Confirming what had been announced a couple of weeks ago, Aeroflot and United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) signed a letter of intent on Wednesday for the delivery of 339 Russian-made aircraft by 2030.
This was done at the Easter Economic Forum in Vladivostok and reported by the official TASS news agency.
The order comprises 210 Irkut MC-21, 89 Sukhoi Superjet SSJ100 and 40 Tu-214 aircraft, with deliveries starting from 2023 with two SSJs, to be followed by six MC-21s and seven Tu-214s in 2024.
According to Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov, the total value of the contract would be more than one trillion rubles, around $16 billion, an unprecedented figure in Russian history.
In practice, Aeroflot has two ways to finance this plan: seek new funds from its main shareholder, the Russian government, or go to the market, the former being the best option in the face of huge uncertainty about the company’s cash flow after Western sanctions hit Russian aviation hard.
Another challenge will be to get manufacturers to increase their production rate, as currently only a few units a year are produced.
