Airbus, Boeing to Lose Russian Market as Aeroflot Signs 339 Aircraft Deal With UAC

Russian airplane maker, United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and national airline, Aeroflot, signed an agreement of intent to purchase 339 aircraft including 210 MS-21, 89 SSJ-NEW and 40 Tu-214 under leasing terms from 2023 to 2030.

Yury Slyusar, General Director of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and Sergey Aleksandrovsky, General Director of  Aeroflot, signed the agreement at the VII Eastern Economic Forum on Monday.

The agreement means an end to any future purchase of Airbus and Boeing aircraft by Aeroflot for decades to come. The two international airplane manufacturers have stopped selling new aircraft to Russia besides stopping the supply of spares to aircraft already in service.

“Boeing and Airbus aircraft, which are unlikely to ever be delivered to Russia again, will be replaced by Russian-made passenger liners. Of the 339 aircraft, almost 300 are new-generation MS-21 and Superjet aircraft. The Tu-214 will become a reliable support for them - this aircraft was previously produced for special customers and has proven itself well,” said Sergey Chemezov, General Director of Rostec State Corporation which owns UAC.

“The contract will become the main one for funding from the National Welfare Fund - the state will subsidize the purchase of imported versions of aircraft, fixing the delivery price for airlines so that our carriers do not experience additional financial burden.

Due to the fact that the first serial machines are always more expensive, at the initial stage, the difference between the delivery price and the actual cost will be compensated from the budget.

With an increase in production, we will move away from this additional measure. Together with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, work is underway to optimize the procedures for providing funds from the National Welfare Fund for the fleet renewal program. It is extremely important for us to quickly start production of mass-produced vehicles under the contract in the current conditions,” said Denis Manturov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

The agreement assumes that in 2023 the group's airlines will receive the first 2 Superjet-NEWs, and starting from 2024, it is planned to deliver the first 6 MS-21 aircraft and the first 7 Tu-214 aircraft.

“Today we signed the largest agreement on the acquisition of domestic aircraft in the recent history of Aeroflot. This is an important step that sets the stimulus and influences the future prospects for the development of civil aviation in Russia. Aeroflot has successfully mastered and effectively operated the best examples of domestic aircraft throughout its almost century-long history. The signing of this agreement clearly demonstrates to the whole world that Russia is a great aviation power with great potential and rich experience in the field of aircraft manufacturing, capable of producing reliable and modern aircraft,” said Sergey Aleksandrovsky, head of Aeroflot.

“Taking into account the unprecedented volume of the order, its implementation is becoming one of the UAC priorities for the coming years, because the transport accessibility of the regions of Russia and the mobility of the population of our country largely depend on the implementation of today's agreement. Realizing the importance of the tasks entrusted to us, we plan to sign the first firm contracts for the supply of aircraft in 2023–2025 before the end of this year,” said Yuri Slyusar.