Translated material
The minister asked Boeing to speed up
Russia wants a “Dreamliner” for the Olympics
Russia has turned to the American aircraft manufacturing company Boeing with a request to speed up the delivery of Boeing-787 airliners to Aeroflot. Russian authorities would like to use these new aircraft, also known as Dreamliner, to transport guests to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. However, Aeroflot itself, according to some information, does not at all dream of receiving the 787s ahead of the deadline stipulated by the current contract.Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin, being in Yekaterinburg yesterday for a meeting between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, told reporters that the Ministry of Transport asked Boeing to postpone the start of Dreamliner deliveries from 2016 to 2014. According to the minister, quoted by RIA Novosti, the request is related to the need to receive aircraft for the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014. The minister did not name the exact number of aircraft needed to service the Olympics.
In 2007, Aeroflot signed a contract with Boeing for 22 Boeing 787s. Initially, the start of deliveries was scheduled for 2014; later, by mutual agreement of the parties, it was moved to 2016. The delay was due to the overall lag of the Dreamliner project behind schedule. The American company expected to deliver the first aircraft of the new type to the launch customer in 2008. However, the design of the revolutionary winged aircraft has been delayed, its tests have not yet been completed, and the initial delivery (to the Japanese airline All Nippon Airways) is now expected in the fourth quarter of 2010.
In order to fulfill the wishes of Mr. Levitin and the organizers of the Sochi Olympics, Boeing will have to not only return the Aeroflot delivery schedule to the deadlines set in 2007, but also move its start at least a few more months forward. According to the 2007 contract, Aeroflot was supposed to receive the first Boeing 787 in January 2014. The Olympic flame in Sochi, as is known, will light up on February 7, 2014. Obviously, one month would not be enough for any airline to master an unfamiliar type of aircraft, and most importantly, this time is not enough to accumulate some of the minimum required fleet of new airliners. According to established practice, the client receives cars from the factory one at a time, with an interval of several months or at least weeks. That is, if Aeroflot wants to fly to the Olympics on a Dreamliner, it must receive these aircraft back in 2013.
Press secretary of Boeing's Moscow office, Dmitry Khrol, told Vremya Novostey yesterday that Boeing adheres to the rule not to comment on its negotiations with customers and partners.
A source in aviation circles, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed to our newspaper the opinion that it is theoretically possible to achieve what Mr. Levitin is talking about. The necessary machines at the right time can be provided by large leasing companies that have placed orders for large quantities of Dreamliners precisely in order to resell them to air carriers, with a profit for themselves, of course. The expert did not predict how expensive this would cost Aeroflot, since, according to him, the cost of such an enterprise would be determined by the ratio of supply and demand for the Boeing-787 from other air carriers at a particular point in time. However, in any case, Aeroflot cannot avoid additional (to the existing contract) costs.
Such a prospect may not fit into the plans of the airline itself. Just a few years ago, Aeroflot’s board of directors approved the purchase of 11 new A330-300 airliners for a total cost of about $2.5 billion (see Vremya Novostey, July 6) . Yesterday, Mr. Levitin himself mentioned this deal to reporters. “The board of directors has made a decision. I think that this (signing of the contract - Ed. ) will be in the near future, before the end of summer,” he said.
According to the plans of the airline's management, the A330-300 is designed to provide Aeroflot with a smooth transition from the current fleet, formed of several types of long-haul aircraft, to the 2016 fleet, consisting of Boeing-787. A330s will arrive in Russia during 2011-2013, and Aeroflot will need several years for these machines to work out their usefulness. If the Boeing-787 enters Aeroflot’s routes already in 2013, then the economic calculations on the basis of which the A330 is purchased may simply not have time to be justified.