Aeroflot has signed its first wet lease agreement, which involves supplying not only the aircraft, but also the crew and services.
The agreement was signed with the Russian company Ifly and foresees the use of three Airbus A330s, of an undisclosed variant.
The aircraft will be used on flights from Moscow to the East of Russia to destinations such as Khabarovsk and Vladivostok.
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Wet leases were not a regulation in Russia, which was recently changed in September, paving the way for the country’s airlines to increase their seat capacity quickly.
“The introduction of wet leasing is a timely and effective solution that gives proactive companies in the domestic market an additional tool to increase traffic volume and improve transport accessibility in the regions, which is very important in the current conditions,” said Sergei Alexandrovsky, CEO of Aeroflot.
Flights will start on December 22 and continue until January 13, depending on the destination.
Aeroflot operates 12 A330s, but flight conditions are unknown following Western sanctions in response to Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.
Ifly has six of the type in its fleet, three A330-200s and three A330-300s.
Growing demand
Air travel in Russia has seen growth in recent months, mainly to domestic destinations, but also to some countries with more friendly relations, such as Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and China.
However, a large part of the fleet of aircraft of Western origin is reportedly suffering from a shortage of spare parts.
The effort to resume production of Russian commercial aircraft has taken time, and so far types such as the SJ100, MC-21 and Tu-214 still have no reliable delivery forecasts.
