Aircraft

By Vladimir Karnozov in Moscow

Russian carrier declares interest in revamped widebody, but search for aircraft is likely to lead it to Seattle

Aeroflot is waiting for Airbus to submit a renewed offer to meet its requirement for a new widebody fleet following the unveiling of the A350 XWB, but the airline's requirements for a smaller aircraft indicate that the Boeing 787-8 is now the front-runner in the long running campaign.

The Russian flag carrier's fleet planning director Sergei Koltovich tells Flight International that Aeroflot is "very much interested" in receiving a proposal on the A350 XWB. Although the new A350 XWB family of 270- to 350-seat aircraft falls into a larger category than the earlier 250-seat A350-800 and similarly sized 787-8 that the airline has been evaluating, Aeroflot "is also interested in it", he adds.

Koltovich says that, with the demise of the earlier A350 range, Boeing is now better positioned in the ongoing tender for up 30 next-generation airliners that will replace the airline's fleet of Boeing 767-300ERs. "It's clear now that Boeing has done a better job, and hence it has higher chances to win. But we will consider the A350 XWB as we might have a requirement in a larger aircraft."

However, any order is unlikely to be placed before the Russian government relaxes tax rules, which include a 20% import duty and 18% value added tax applicable to aviation products. The Kremlin is considering softening duties for new Western aircraft and imposing a higher tax on secondhand examples.