Belavia to purchase Russian-made aircraft in future

Due to Western sanctions and taking into account the development of the Russian aviation industry, Belavia expects to replenish its fleet with aircraft manufactured in the Russian Federation in future – as stated by Director General of Belavia Airlines Igor Cherginets at a meeting with journalists at the National Press Centre

“Our plans to modernise the fleet were somewhat disrupted by Western sanctions,” he stated. “I think that if it weren’t for them, the average age of the fleet by this moment would have been 5-7 years, and the quantitative composition would have been slightly different. Anyway, we have what we have.”

Speaking about the prospects for the development of the airline’s fleet, the Head of Belavia noted that the Belarusian carrier ‘is now blocked from Boeing, Airbus, Embraer and other manufacturers, of which, by the way, there are not many’.

“We are conducting very close negotiations, preparing agreements with the United Aircraft Corporation of Russia on the purchase of MS-21 and Sukhoi Superjet New aircraft. We are waiting for the Russian Federation to produce these aircraft. They are already partially being tested, with different engines, and are not ready yet, but in 2024-2026 they should take wing and go into commercial operation. We’re waiting for this to happen so we can purchase them.”

The Belavia airline fleet currently consists of 13 aircraft (before the introduction of sanctions, their number was close to 30).

“The average age of aircraft is 11.2 years,” said Igor Cherginets. “This is a pretty good indicator. Western-made aircraft can be operated almost indefinitely (there is such a thing as airworthiness). We can say that an aircraft performing commercial passenger flights can operate until it reaches the age of 30-35 years.”