Delivery of third Tu-204 still undecided (280 words)

Published: 11/23/2000

Krasair opened a new route on the 18th November from Krasnoyarsk-Tashkent-Irkutsk with the Tu-204-100 recently delivered from Aviastar. The company plans to use the aircraft on routes to Far East, Kamchatka, and Central Russia. On the 15th November KrasAir also started operating Tu-154 on its new Moscow - Novokuznetsk - Blagoveshchensk route. According to the company they plan a number of additional new routes but did not provide any further details. They will join an opening programme introduced by Krasair with the winter schedule launched on the 30th of October. New routes include Moscow-Kemerovo-Vladivostok, Magnitogorsk to Mineral Waters and Magnitogorsk to Krasnoyarsk.With flights opened from Krasnoyarsk to Hanover and Frankfurt am Main on the 4th of November. According to the airline, the new Tu-204 was previously operated for a year by the now bankrupt Moscow based Trans European Airlines, which operated the aircraft on charter flights until earlier this year. The aircraft, according to reports, was delivered to Trans European last year after they had provided sufficient funds, rumoured to be $1.2m to Aviastar to finish an airframe and agreed to share operating revenues with the factory. Krasair expects to receive its second Tu-204, originally intended to be its first, in December and the aircraft is currently being painted at Aviastar according to the airline. They are to buy the second aircraft payable in two tranches, but will lease the engines under a “fly by the hour “ arrangement with Perm. A third aircraft is expected to be delivered in 2001, under the eight aircraft option taken out for the next five years by the airline. The airline is however cautious about committing itself to such a delivery.

Article ID: 2211