Saratov Airlines’ An-148s to transport shift oil workers

Contract with Rosneft oil company will keep Saratov Airlines' An-148s busy for five years (Photo by Saratov Airlines)

Saratov Airlines has won a tender for transporting shift workers for Russian oil company Rosneft onboard of Antonov An-148 regional jets. This contract will keep Saratov ‘s aircraft busy for the next five years.

According to the tender information, the carrier will fly the employees of Rosneft’s subsidiary RN-Vankor from Krasnoyarsk and Tomsk to Igarka, one of the nearest points to Vankor oil field. The contract covers 893 flights from/to Krasnoyarsk and 192 flights from/to Tomsk through 2021. There’s no data as to how many aircraft will be engaged in the program.

According to tender terms, only An-148s or similar aircraft no older than 20 years in operation were liable for participation. Two more operators, Turukhan and Yamal submitted application for the competition.

The initial cost of the tender stood at 1.722 billion rubles ($29 million), and Saratov Airlines offered to render services for 1.633 billion rubles, less 5% from the initial cost.

Saratov Airlines currently operates two 83-seat An-148 jets formerly used by Rossiya Airlines and owned by Ilyushin Finance leasing company. It plans to sublease two more aircraft of the type this year. The third aircraft is expected to arrive in the first quarter. These aircraft will partially replace the morally obsolete YaK-42s in the operator’s fleet.
Russian Aviation Insider