Royal Flight takes delivery of a second Boeing 767

Like the first Boeing 767 in the charter airline’s fleet, the second 767 was formerly operated by Rossiya Airlines (Photo by Royal Flight)

Russian charter carrier Royal Flight has taken delivery of its second Boeing 767-300.

The aircraft, with tail number VP-BLG (s.n. 27616/714), made its first flight in the summer of 1998. As is the case with the first 767 in fleet of Royal Flight, the second one was previously operated by Rossiya Airlines. Both aircraft feature a two-class configuration with a total of 309 seats (12 in business class and 297 in economy). Both are owned by the Dutch lessor AerCap. The company is planning to base its newly-acquired Boeing 767s at Sheremetyevo Airport. Additionally, they are planning to operate the aircraft out of Pulkovo Airport as well.

The carrier earlier said it was not planning further expansion of its 767 fleet beyond these two aircraft.

The carrier’s spokesperson assured that the vacancies created with acquisition of these new aircraft will be filled by existing airline technical personnel, as well as by newly-recruited staff, namely pilots. Royal Flight plans to use its own resources and staff to carry out line maintenance on the aircraft, while base maintenance work will be outsourced; at Pulkovo, for instance, base maintenance on the aircraft will be contracted to Rossiya Airlines.

The airline also operates six narrow-body aircraft: five Boeing 757-200s and a 737-800. In the first quarter of 2016, Royal Flight carried almost 92,000 passengers, 5.4% more than during the same period last year. It occupies 21^st position in Russian airlines’ rating by passenger traffic. At the end of 2015, the airline served 867,200 passengers (+38,9% YOY).