Rossiya receives its first aircraft in new livery

Rossiya's Boeing 747 is the first aircraft to receive a new branded livery (Photo by Rossiya)

Rossiya Airlines has received its first aircraft painted in the carrier’s new branded color scheme. The aircraft is a Boeing 747 with tail number EI-XLE (s.n. 26362/1202 built in 1999), and was previously operated by Transaero.

The aircraft was painted in Dublin. Aeroflot Group’s spokesperson emphasized that it was important to preserve brand recognition, and, at the same time, make it new and contemporary. The logo is a symbolic contrail, which “underlines the dynamic character of the renewed brand,” Rossiya’s chairman of the board Vadim Zingman explained. The new design resembles turbine blades, he said.

According to open sources, the aircraft was leased from Sberbank Leasing. Transaero operated a total of four Boeing 747-400s leased from Sberbank. All of these aircraft are expected to be transferred to Rossiya, as they are listed in an agreement with Aeroflot concerning 14 aircraft. The other ten aircraft are Boeing 737-800s. These aircraft have not even been produced yet, as Transaero had planned their delivery for 2016 and 2017. The OEM is currently coordinating their configuration with Aeroflot.

The new aircraft will be painted with the new livery as they enter Rossiya’s fleet, the ones already in service will receive paint jobs as they undergo their next maintenance checks.

Rossiya has recently absorbed two of its sister companies, Donavia and OrenAir—all three airlines are Aeroflot subsidiaries. The newly-merged fleet of Rossiya will consist of 74 aircraft, including 34 aircraft that were leased by Transaero from Sberbank Leasing, VTB Leasing and VEB Leasing.