Russia’s KrasAvia to acquire three ATR-72 turboprops

KrasAvia is to acquire the ATR-72s in 2020, via a lease finance scheme (KrasAvia)

In a plan to set-up feeder services for Aeroflot at its recently launched Krasnoyarsk airport international hub, Russian regional airline KrasAvia is to acquire three ATR-72-500 turboprops.

The off-market aircraft will be acquired during the course of next year via a finance lease scheme, the Krasnoyarsk-based airline has revealed in a statement. By introducing the ATR-72s, the regional carrier will not only improve the quality of its own services, but will also expand the geography of its flights at Krasnoyarsk, thereby providing steady regional traffic flows for Aeroflot’s new Siberian hub activities.

The acquisition of three large western-built turboprops, to be delivered in May through September, is part of the airline’s fleet upgrade strategy, as it systematically replaces its obsolete Antonov An-24 and An-26 types, in a development which comes with the blessing of the governor of the Krasnoyarsk region.

KrasAvia, which was legally separated from five region-run local airports last year, is now focused only on providing transportation services and, as a consequence, in the first nine months of 2019 and for the first time in nine years, the airline managed to achieve break-even in its operational activities. This in turn has opened the possibility of implementing some major investment projects such as fleet modernisation.

“It is gratifying to realise that KrasAvia as such is an important asset of the Krasnoyarsk territory and not only successfully fulfils the mission of providing life-support for hard-to-reach territories, but can also be profitable. And with the renewal of the fleet the airline is turning into a liquid and promising asset in the Krasnoyarsk region,” insists Andrey Egorov, the general director of KrasAvia.

KrasAvia, which is owned by the administration of the Krasnoyarsk region, operates a fleet comprising of 10 Yak-42Ds, six An-24/26s, three L-410UVP-E20s, one An-32A and 22 Mi-8 helicopters of various modifications.

Currently ranked 29th in Russia’s league table of air passenger numbers, the airline served 173,330 passengers in the first nine months of this year, 22.8 per cent down on the same period in 2018.