Published: 8/21/1998

The Russian Vnukovo Airlines (VAL), the Ilyushin aviation complex and the Voronezh aircraft manufacturing stock company, which has been producing the Il-86 airliner, have signed a framework agreement on strategic partnership. The agreement aims to ensure the required technical standard of the Vnukovo fleet of Il-86s until the year 2005 can be extended for another term if the parties so desire. The designers and manufacturers of the Il-86 will modernise it so that Vnukovo can use it and meet the ever more stringent international and domestic requirements. Work to maintain the plane's performance will be carried out by joint teams of technicians. "The preservation of the fleet of Il-86s is vitally important for the company as it enables us to accumulate resources to purchase new domestic aviation equipment in the future," Tatevos Surinov, the VAL general director said. Ilyushin general designer Genrikh Novozhilov, for his part stressed, in an interview with ConCISe, the importance of the agreement which in an emerging market economy would work to develop a new type of relationship between the aircraft developers and operators. He said co-operation with airlines provided a solid ground for the existence and well-being of the designers, developers and manufacturers. "We have always worked in close contact with our customers and operators, and any plane can only perform at its best if those who created it keep an eye on its life-time operation," Novozhilov said. Commercial aspects of the framework agreement signed by the three parties will be specified on a case-to-case basis for each plane or a group of them. (AL898.6) (VZ)

Article ID: 254