Ukrainian carrier YanAir receives first Airbus A321

YanAir Yanair has been flying A320s since it first began operations in 2013 (Photo by Kyiv Zhulyany International Airport)

The Ukrainian private airline YanAir took delivery of its first narrow-body Airbus A321, which the airline is planning to use on charter routes. Further expansion of YanAir’s fleet will occur according to market conditions in Ukraine.

According to information from open sources, YanAir received the Airbus A321-100, which has been flying since 1998. Previous operators of the aircraft include Alitalia, who operated the A321 from 1998 to 2012, and Asian Wings Airways, from Myanmar. The aircraft is fitted with 200 seats, which makes it the largest aircraft in YanAir’s fleet.

The aircraft flew from Yangon, Myanmar, to Kharkiv, Ukraine, on June 24. “At the beginning of July, after undergoing formalities, the aircraft will begin operations on international charter routes. It will serve our entire charter network, including to Egypt, Turkey, and Bulgaria,” YanAir’s commercial director Artiom Shakhov told Russian Aviation Insider.

There are no concrete plans to develop YanAir’s fleet any further at this point. “Everything will depend on the market’s tendencies in the fall-winter season,” according to the top manager. “Currently, with the receiving of the new aircraft, we will cover all of our needs for the summer. Then we will see. I think that as we get closer to the fall, we will have a clearer understanding of how many aircraft we will need for our winter operation.”

YanAir achieved satisfying results in the first half of 2016, observing growth from the same period last year. “We have seen very good passenger traffic on board our regular flights, which we operate from Kyiv and Odesa to Larnaca, in Cyprus; and Batumi and Tbilisi, in Georgia,” says Shakhov. “Our charter flights, which we operate alongside our partners, are also quite effective and good from an economic standpoint. These programs bring in some serious money every year. Especially because of charter programs, many air carriers survive and even allow themselves to develop.”

It is rather unsure of what the fleet of YanAir consists of exactly. According to the carrier’s website, it operates seven aircraft: two turboprop Saab 340s, two Boeing 737s and three Airbus A320s. However, conflicting information on the same website shows that there are in fact ten aircraft in YanAir’s fleet: two Saab 340s, three Boeing 737-300s, two Boeing 737-400s, and three Airbus 320s.

Shakhov did not specify the actual makeup of YanAir’s fleet, saying that today the company is not using its Saab 340s.

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