The new Il-96-300s being delivered to Domodedovo Airlines are being deployed on routes replacing Il-62s.

Published: 7/5/1999

The new Il-96-300s being delivered to Domodedovo Airlines (DA) are being deployed on routes replacing Il-62s. According to the Yakutsk daily newpaper, Yakutiya, on June 14th 1999, the response to the new aircraft has been good, with the early flights from Yakutsk to Moscow flying at full 220-seat capacity. The frequency of flights however, will be three times a week: less than the current schedule. The company attributes this to the higher capacity of the Il-96 over the Il-62. For others, this may yet again emphasise that fact that the Il-96 is a very large aircraft for the current level of Russian demand. According to Mr Vitaly Manko, the DA representative in Yakutsk, the carrier has three Il-96-300s and plans to replace the current fleet of 37 Il-62s with Il-96-300s. Reports from the Ilyushin design bureau suggest that DA has signed options for 10-15 aircraft over the next five years, although this may prove difficult for DA to finance at reasonable cost in the current conditions. Concise understands, however, that Mr Akimov, General Director of DA, is very keen to meet the target of replacing the Il-62 fleet. The third DA Il-96-300 was delivered from the VASO factory only a month ago and joins the other Il-96-300s flying to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. According to reports from within the airline, the aircraft are flying in excess of 13 hours a day. This suggests that the very significant improvements in availability recorded by Aeroflot on their Il-96-300s are sustainable and that the PS-90 engine has overcome its initial operational problems. According to the Yakutiya report, DA paid a deposit of $12 m for the aircraft and has payments totalling 300m roubles ($12 m) remaining. This demonstrates just how cheap Russian aircraft can get, although it is not as cheap as the rumoured deal negotiated by Trans European Airlines for a TU-204. The deal was said to involve a deposit of $1.5m and an arrangement whereby the factory and the operator shared the aircraft's operating profits. The specific details of the financing of the DA deal were not revealed by Mr.Manko, but the deposit of $12m seems high, given the condition of the market and, for that matter, the airline itself. However, prices paid for Russian aircraft should generally be treated with some scepticism, as both sides are often keen to demonstrate just how robust they are.

Article ID: 649