Decision to withdraw Russian aircraft is not unexpected and clears the way for more efficient use of its Western options (417 words)

Published: 10/30/2001

Aeroflot has announced that it intends to withdraw from service its remaining 27 Il-62s and Il-86s, in a move that it says reflects the need to reduce capacity by between 20-30% for the winter season. The news comes as no real surprise and a reduction in capacity would also undoubtedly be a prudent step. Although Aeroflot has not seen a huge decline in volumes to date, with falls of only 1% reported for September, action of this kind will allow it to avoid being caught with too many aircraft in a potentially soft market. The decision to withdraw the Il-62 and Il-86 is not coincidental. Foreign aircraft now constitute the bulk of Aeroflot's capacity in operational terms, with domestic types carrying fewer and fewer of its passengers. In part, this is because Russian passengers flying both internationally and domestically favour airlines operating Western aircraft; it also reflects the poor availability of Russian types and the fact that the leased Western aircraft have to be paid for and as such have to maintain high levels of utilisation. The withdrawal of the Russian aircraft would presumably also give the Aeroflot planners the opportunity to utilise Western aircraft more fully at a time when frequencies and volumes may be falling on international routes, by reassigning them to domestic destinations that appear to be substantially more robust in terms of passenger numbers and are also at the heart of Aeroflot's strategy of building its predominant regional presence. The choice of the fuel inefficient and noisy Il-62 (16 aircraft) and Il-86 (11 aircraft) is also timely given that, even with the latitude granted by the recent ICAO assembly in Montreal, both of these aircraft, that continue to provide charter flights to popular Russian vacation destinations, are likely to be excluded from Europe at the very least. The Il-62 used to service routes to Vladivostok until it was replaced by an A-310 in last winter's schedule as well as to the West coast of the United States, much to the irritation of the American authorities. It was specifically identified by General Director, Valery Okulov, earlier this year, as requiring new engines to meet the ICAO Chapter III regulation due to be brought in April next year: an investment that the airline was always unlikely to make.

Article ID: 2867