02 June 2010, 02:01 / Business

Aeroflot will have to fly Boeing

Boeing won the Russian Technologies tender for the supply of 65 medium-haul aircraft. It is assumed that the airliners will be leased to Aeroflot. The carrier is not happy with this prospect, because it needs Airbus Alexey Nepomnyashchiy

It is more convenient for the head of Russian Technologies Sergei Chemezov to work with Boeing / D. Grishkin

When the tender was announced, the state corporation still intended to create a competitor to Aeroflot on the basis of six airlines transferred to it by the state. It was planned to purchase 50 aircraft - narrow-body medium-haul airliners and sign an option for another 15 aircraft - the amount of deliveries could be up to $2.5 billion. Boeing offered the Boeing 737NG for tender, Airbus - aircraft of the A320 family, and UAC - Tu-204 and from 2016. new generation airliners - MS-21.

The decision of Russian Technologies was partly political: the state corporation has close relations with Boeing, to which its member VSMPO-AVISMA supplies titanium, says an employee of one of the manufacturers. Similarly, in 2005–2007. Aeroflot . was choosing between the long-haul Airbus A350 and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, but ultimately agreed on the supply of 22 aircraft of both types It makes no sense for Aeroflot to maintain a fleet of both A320 and Boeing 737 - this will increase its maintenance costs, notes Ingosstrakh Investments analyst Evgeny Shago. However, both Russian Technologies and Aeroflot are state-owned companies and can be guided not only by economic motives, the expert notes.

The Boeing Corporation won the tender for the supply of 65 aircraft, which Russian Technologies announced in August 2009. This was announced yesterday by the state corporation itself. Competitors included Airbus and the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), but “Boeing presented the best offer in terms of technical, operational and financial indicators.” President of Boeing in Russia Sergei Kravchenko told Vedomosti yesterday only that he was very happy about the victory. Representatives of Russian Technologies, Airbus and UAC declined to comment.

The results of the tender were postponed several times, and during this time the plans of Russian Technologies changed dramatically: the state corporation agreed to transfer its assets in the aviation industry to Aeroflot itself, but with the right to supply aircraft to the carrier. This agreement is non-binding, Vedomosti’s source at Aeroflot noted. The company plans in 2011–2013. to lease 15 medium-haul airliners for its subsidiaries, but these should be A320s, company CEO Vitaly Savelyev said last week.

Airbus A320 family aircraft are Aeroflot's only medium-haul aircraft; by the end of 2010, according to already concluded contracts, their number should increase to 67, with another 13 aircraft arriving over the next two years. Aeroflot had no intention of purchasing medium-haul Boeings, as follows from the company’s presentation to investors dated April 2010. By the fall, the airline should determine the fate of the Russian Technologies aviation assets transferred to it, a source in the company told Vedomosti, and after that it will become clear how many and which ones she still needs planes. Aeroflot could also lease Boeing from Russian Technologies if the offer is profitable, says a representative of the airline.