New aircraft generates at least initial interest (196 words)

Published: 5/21/2001

Sergey Kravchenko, Vice President responsible for co-operation and business development in Russia and the CIS at Boeing, has reported that Philip Condit, Chairman and CEO, has had discussions with Valery Okulov, General Director of Aeroflot over the company's new Boeing Mach 0.95 aircraft, which is expected to enter service between 2006-2008. The discussions took place during Condit's recent visit to Russia. According to Kravchenko, Aeroflot expressed interest in the project and requested more information. On 17th May, Mike Bair, EVP of Commercial Aviation Services and Boeing Commercial Airplanes, presented the project to Russian journalists and said that the aircraft is likely to have only first and business classes. He added that the price of new aircraft has yet to be determined, as has the aircraft's capacity. Bair commented that, while the aircraft will have similar operating costs to current airliners, its greater speed would allow greater utilisation. He added that Russian engineers might participate in the aircraft's development, but that no concrete plans have so far been made. In the past, Boeing has made extensive use of Russian experience in supersonic flight.

Article ID: 2547