Up to ten aircraft from the original three

Published: 4/7/2000

Arslan Ruzmetov, the General Director of Uzbekistan Airways has announced that the airline will buy 10 Il-114-100 from TAPO based in Tashkent. The deal is not completely unexpected as the airline made it clear that it had interest in three aircraft in September of last year. The order for ten however, will take up all the aircraft reported to be nearing completion at TAPO at the end of 1999. Three of the Pratt & Whitney powered aircraft will be delivered in September according to reports, joining the two Klimov powered Il-114 currently operated by the airline. The value of the contract was not revealed, but the most recent figure cited for the aircraft is $8m per unit for the Klimov powered version, suggesting a higher price for the P&W version. UA"s status however, as a launch customer and P&W"s desire to make the programme work, may see considerably lower prices. For the Klimov powered Il-114, it appears that it may struggle to get customers, particularly as its only commercial operator has chosen the P&W engined version. Associated articles: www.concise.org 9th September 1999:Il-114-100 finds first customer 4th February 1999: PW powered Il-114 flies

Article ID: 1612