Russians get rid of An-148 aircraft. Ukraine is interested in acquiring them

Author

Olga Krotovska

The Russian owners announced their intention to sell all of their An-148 aircraft. In total, there are 10 of them left in the Russian Federation. Сompanies from Ukraine can become potential buyers for the proposed product, the newspaper Kommersant reports.

As known, the Russians began to gradually abandon the An-148s due to the problems with their maintenance. Difficulties arose amid Russia's annexation of Ukrainian Crimea and the start of the war in Donbas in 2014. The operation of these aircraft without cooperation with Ukraine is impossible, so it would be logical for Ukrainian companies to buy them.

"The aircraft is not mass-produced, it has a certificate of the Air Registry of the IAC (Interstate Aviation Committee—Ed. note), it was produced both in Ukraine and in Russia. Therefore, we analyze all potential sales markets in the countries of the former USSR that could be interested in these aircraft. We are negotiating with airlines from Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Uzbekistan," says Sergei Turkin, director of the leasing company Ilyushin Finance Co that intends to sell five of its An-148s.

According to the outlet, at least two Ukrainian carriers—Air Ocean Airlines and Motor Sich—have already expressed interest in the An-148s.

Context. Recall: Air Ocean Airlines, the new Ukrainian air carrier, made its first flight on October 30. At that time, it had two An-148 aircraft that the company got under lease agreements from the Cyprus company CYPRUS AIRCRAFT LEASING 2 (CAL) LTD. These aircraft were built in 2011 and 2012 at a plant in Voronezh (RF) and were part of the fleet of the Russian air carrier Angara.

According to Kommersant, in general, Air Ocean Airlines planned to lease up to six An-148s of Russian origin. Viacheslav Geriga, the Executive Director of the air carrier, declined to comment on this information.

An-148 is a Ukrainian midrange narrow-body passenger aircraft. It was designed at the former Aeronautical Scientific and Technical Complex named after O.K.Antonov (now SE Antonov). It is designed to carry up to 83 passengers at a distance of 4,400 km. The production of An-148 was deployed at the facilities of Kyiv Aviation Plant Aviant in Ukraine and Voronezh Aircraft Production Association in Russia (construction in Voronezh was carried out under a Ukrainian license).