Thursday 20 April 2017

RUSSIA: Russian Government Plans for Red Wings Airlines

Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed turning Red Wings Airlines into a vehicle for injecting up to 100 Sukhoi Superjet (SSJ100) regional jetliners into the domestic route network.

The Transport Ministry reportedly proposed the initiative. Red Wings was chosen for its previous operational experience with the type.

The plan calls for Red Wings to be used as the base for the establishment of several new regional carriers that would operate flights between Russian cities of over 200,000 population.

The idea is to be implemented between 2018 and 2022. It is understood that the newly established carriers’ routes will be subsidized by the government.

Line maintenance stations for SSJ 100s are planned to be set up in up to nine Russian regions.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade says its main goals for the project are to boost domestic SSJ 100 sales and promote air services as a transport mode to the population.

Red Wings, and its parent company Ilyushin Finance Co., have since confirmed the government’s plans but declined to reveal any details. The proposal is still in the early stages, the carrier noted.

Red Wings has previously had an unsuccessful experience with SSJ100 operation. As General Director Yevgeny Klyucharev told Russian Aviation Insider, Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), of which SSJ100 OEM Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company is a part, proposed a similar plan to the carrier in the past in order to promote the type, but the deal fell through.

The United Engine Corporation (UEC) in 2017-2025 intends to invest 21.9 billion rubles in the modernization of production to prepare the serial production of the engine PD-14. This is reported by RNS.

Of this amount, 4.6 billion rubles will be used to equip production with specialized equipment. The project is financed by means of the bonded loan of the UEC. The corporation also intends to send 14.3 billion rubles for the creation of the after-sales service system.

In particular, repair facilities, a training center, a distribution network for spare parts and maintenance and repair centers will be organized at the plant’s facilities. Financing will be provided from the federal budget.

In addition, UEC intends to create a production facility for assembly of PD-14 aircraft engines with a capacity of at least 50 sets per year. The project will be invested 2.95 billion rubles in 2017-2025. Sources of financing will be the company’s own and borrowed funds.

The engine PD-14 belongs to the family of aircraft engines with a thrust from 12.5 to 18 tons. It is designed for use on passenger and transport aircraft of various types, including the prospective MC-21 airliner (developed by Irkut Corporation).

UEC plans in 2017 to register the program of exchange-traded bonds, also said in a recently published report . Currently, there are four issues of UEC bonds in circulation for the total amount of 33.213 billion rubles.

No comments: