The airline is to take delivery of its second Tu-204 by the end of this summer

Published: 3/31/2000

Arthur Tsomaya, President of Transeuropean Airlines (TEA), has said that the airline will take delivery of its second To-204-100 by the end of this summer. Terms of the direct financial lease deal between TEA and Aerostar"s production factory at Ulianovsk will be the same as for the first aircraft, which was delivered on 10th May 1999 and began flights five days later. According to Tsomaya, this financial scheme has proved workable to the satisfaction of both sides. Tsomaya established TEA in 1996, after he had left AJT. In addition to the Tu-204, the airline has an Il-86 and a Tu-154M, with 250 personnel. Annual traffic is around 100,000 passengers a year, with a seat loading factor averaging at 75-80%, and flying to 20 destinations in Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Arab Emirates and Thailand. It specialises in regular charters, mostly for tourist operators, with all flights being international and operating from Sheremetievo-1 terminal. TEA is thinking about opening regular services inside Russia later this year. Although the demand for Russian tourists travelling to foreign holiday resorts dropped after August 1998, volumes have now been restored allowing even the Il-86 to operate profitably. Tsomaya is optimistic about the airline"s market segment due to the experience and professionalism of its management team made up largely of former Transaero employees. TEA plans to have a fleet of three Tu-204s by the end of the year, which would enable it to return the leased Il-86. The decision to lay off the Il-86 is based on its poor engine performance and large size. TEA is also looking at the Il-96-300 as a possible candidate for serving long-range routes to Pacific Rim countries. The airline has opted for the Tu-204 for its relatively long range, enabling a non-stop flight from Moscow to Barcelona in five hours. By March, the RA64018 had amassed 1,700 flight hours, with the highest monthly utilisation rate at 412 hours. Although it fully corresponds to the present and future European requirements, being fitted with the TCAS collision avoidance system and communication radios with 8.33 kHz spacing, TEA wants its second aircraft to have a more advanced avionics set. The second plane will also have an improved interior with business and economy classes. One question that does arise from the various orders coming through for the Tu-204, is will there be enough aircraft. According to Viktor Kuzenetsov , the Deputy Marketing Director of Aviastar, the deliveries for the aircraft are planned as follows: Quarter 1- delivery of 1 Tu-204 cargo aircraft- we assume that this is the aircraft for AirRep in the UK, which will be operated by a Russian company, although the plant will not confirm the customer and AirRep are eagerly expecting delivery. Quarter 2- 2 passenger Tu-204s for Sircocco and Kamminvody Airlines, one being a RR powered 120. In the second half the company says that it expects to complete between 3-4 aircraft one of which will be an An-124 for Volga Dnepr. As Sircocco is potentially a buyer of two aircraft in the first half and ‘several" more in the second half, according to its CEO Tom Smith, with AirRep expecting to get an additional aircraft later this year, and a third aircraft for Traneuropean, there appears to be something of a gap.

Article ID: 1628