Aeroflot signs major deal with Boeing

Russia has signed several contracts during the first several days of the Paris air show in Le Bourget. Aeroflot and Utair airlines concluded contracts for the delivery of aircraft for their fleets. The contracts will be signed during the air show in the town of Zhukovsky, the Moscow region in August.

Aeroflot and Boeing signed a hard contract for the delivery of eight Boeing-777-300ER. Dmitry Adamidov, a financial specialist with Investcafe, said that Aeroflot continued to renovate the fleet of its long-distance aircraft. The above-mentioned ocntract is the largest. In 2007, Aeroflot signed large contracts to purchase 22 long-haul Boeing B787 Dreamliner planes. The deliveries under the contract will be launched in 2016. Aeroflot also purchased 22 Airbus A350 liners to be delivered from 2018.

"Aeroflot is not fully satisfied with the development of cooperation with Airbus. Most likely, Russia's major airline decided to diversify its risks. For Boeing, the contract with Aeroflot is just as important as it is for the Russian airline. Many specialists say that Boeing has been losing the competition with Airbus lately. Aeroflot's new contract for eight aircraft is not going to change anything drastically, but from the point of view of PR, the contract came right on time for the American corporation," the specialist said.

UTair, one of Russia's largest private-owned airlines, signed a contract to purchase 40 Boeing 737 NG (Next-Generation), RIA Novosti reports. The deal has been evaluated at $3.3 billion. The airline ordered 33 B-737-800 and seven B-737-900ER planes within the scope of the contract. The planes can carry up to 189 and 215 passengers respectively.

Aeroflot intends to revise the volume of its cooperation with Airbus. Airbus liners make up to 80 percent of Aeroflot's fleet. The airline has over 100 liners, but only 13 of them are made by Boeing. The cooperation is going to be revised because of considerable discrepancies between Aeroflot and Airbus regarding delivery terms and price fluctuations. The parties are going to negotiate each of the two issues soon.

In addition, Russia's Vnesheconombank (foreign economic bank) concluded an agreement on cooperation with United Aircraft Corporation and Energia missile and space corporation, Banki.ru website said. According to the document, Vnesheconombank will fund foreign economic contracts on the delivery of aircraft. The bank will also fund their production and sales on the territory of Russia and foreign countries.

Artyom Chernyavsky.