Aeroflot Group’s fleet will be close to 400 aircraft next year

Aeroflot will mainly boost its wide-body fleet next year (Aeroflot)

Aeroflot Group plans to add 31 aircraft to its combined fleet in the course of next year. Title airline and flag carrier Aeroflot will mainly boost its wide-body fleet in advance of its planned expansion to Asian destinations, including new routes to Singapore, Osaka, Chengdu, Mumbai and Goa.

The entire group, which also includes low-cost carrier Pobeda Airlines, medium-segment operator Rossiya Airlines and Russian far eastern regional carrier Aurora Airlines, has targeted a combined 8.4 per cent fleet expansion, which will result in a collective fleet of 398 aircraft, according to the results of a meeting of the group’s board of directors.

“Low-cost carrier Pobeda is expected to demonstrate the highest traffic growth rate within the group. The new plans to increase the group’s combined fleet to 398 aircraft are backed by the group’s overall budget, which factors-in new opportunities linked to infrastructure development’s at the [Aeroflot] Sheremetyevo Moscow airport base, plus the launch of operations from the new hub at Krasnoyarsk,” the statement reads.

Aeroflot Group’s total fleet currently amounts to 364 units, including 249 jets operated by Aeroflot, 62 by Rossiya Airlines, 30 by Pobeda and 23 by Aurora. Of the aircraft scheduled for delivery next year, 11 are Airbus A350s – the new type of wide-body airliners for Aeroflot. Russia’s flag carrier has signed a firm order for 14 aircraft of the type, but plans to add up to 22 A350-900s before 2023. Some of these aircraft will serve as replacements for the 10 A330s that Aeroflot plans to retire within the next three years.

According to the Group’s international standards-authorised financial report for the first nine months of 2019, it also plans to take delivery of three Boeing 777s within the 2020-2021 timeframe. Pobeda Airlines is also sticking to its intention to start operating the Boeing 737 MAX, but has not yet revealed plans for the exact number of deliveries it expects next year. Whilst it is waiting for its MAXs to accommodate Pobeda’s targeted traffic growth, the Group has decided to transfer four B737NGs to the LCC’s fleet from sister airline Rossiya.

Aeroflot has also been approved to lease an additional five Superjet 100 (SSJ100) regional jets and expects their delivery before the end of 2019, although this schedule may be extended. That deal is part of a larger arrangement following on from last year’s signed preliminary agreement with United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) for the delivery of a total of 100 SSJ100s between 2019 and 2026.