IRAERO - A319-100 - VP-BKD - New type in IrAero fleet! Ex. EI-GFN of I Fly, VP-BDY of VIM Airlines, Tatarstan Air and RusLine, G-EZID of easyJet.

 

Timofey Panteleev

Moscow Domodedovo - UUDD
Russia

IrAero says good-bye to its Boeing 777 experiment

After an 18-month trial period, the Irkutsk-based regional airline has wound down its failed wide-body programme

ES in Air Transport,




IrAero was one of Russia’s six Boeing 777-200ER operators (IrAero)

The privately owned Russian airline IrAero has shut down its experimental Boeing 777 programme after industry analysts had doubts from the start that the regional carrier had the necessary capabilities to tackle the challenging wide-body project, pointing specifically at a lack of a clear strategy. Now that the last of the airline’s leased Boeing 777-200ERs has left its fleet and the 18-month project is over, those predictions have proven true.

THE IDEA AND WHY IT FAILED

The IrAero Boeing 777 project started in June 2018 when the airline leased the first of the aircraft type, followed by two more. The last of the three units – with registrations VP-BMR, VP-BSJ and VP-BL and all built between 1997 and 1998 – returned to Spain in early January.

Just like the previous Russian operator of these aircraft, the now defunct VIM Airlines, IrAero was counting on capitalising on operating the wide-bodies on flights to and from China. But whilst this made sense on paper, in reality the project ran into hurdles right from the start. Firstly, with the Chinese programme finally kicking off in October 2018, the entire high summer season was spent attempting to find work for the expensive aircraft, including flights to the Far Eastern region of Russia already served by Aeroflot offering state-supported ‘flat rates.’ Then, in early 2019, IrAero was forced to suspend its B777 operations after its large Chinese travel agent partner backed out of the programme. That is when the wide-body project’s shortfalls became increasingly apparent. Although the airline’s management announced it was still hopeful of resuming B777 operations some day in the future, the idea seemed more dubious than ever.

BITTER OPTIMISM

Despite encountering such obvious difficulties, IrAero’s management is still defending its stance. “Last year, IrAero’s 20th anniversary year, was probably one of the most successful in its history,” first deputy director Vladimir Panfilov insists. “The airline’s RPK numbers more than doubled as the result of a significant route network expansion.”

In January through November 2019, IrAero transported some 847,000 passengers, a very solid 35 per cent year-on-year improvement, and it also achieved a 77.9 per cent seat load factor.

Now, having divested itself of the 1,100 seats that its B777s provided, IrAero is back to its regional self, with its nine 100-seat Superjet 100 regional jets, its largest aircraft and the core of its fleet. However its woes are not yet over as only five of these are in airworthy condition and the airline is facing ongoing lawsuits from the owner of the aircraft and even from the type’s manufacturer Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co (SCAC).

The airline’s smaller segment, featuring the 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200, is not much better off, as only one of four aircraft is actually operating. There are also the company’s “good old” Antonov An-24/26 turboprops, but the overall problem remains: there’s simply no sound strategy the airline can follow, admits one of its managers in a private conversation with Russian Aviation Insider. The Boeing 777 trial was too expensive, both for the airline and for the market, he explains. “The [long term] idea to work on long-haul routes still remains. But with a more suitable aircraft type.”

BACK TO THE SUPERJET

On December 30, Sukhoi Civil filed yet another lawsuit against IrAero, claiming 941.4 million roubles (US$15.350 million) for as yet undisclosed reasons. It is the third case following a similar suit in February 2019 (for 550 million roubles) and also in July in the same year (for 660 million roubles).

IrAero, in turn, has retaliated with a claim to reimburse its collective losses of 1.9 billion roubles ($31 million) associated with the operation of SSJ100s since their entry into service with the airline in 2016.

“IrAero has nine SSJ100s in its fleet, but only five of them are serviceable,” a source has revealed to Interfax newswire. “The remaining aircraft are not in flying condition. Moreover, one of the aircraft has been grounded for three years and now serves as a spare parts donor for its siblings,” the source adds, further explaining that the claim also includes maintenance costs and losses associated with cancelled flights and anticipated damages.

IrAero has not provided an official statement regarding its claims against SCAC, but has confirmed that only five aircraft remain flying.

(IrAero)

IrAero leased its nine SSJ100s from Russia’s State Transport Leasing Corporation (GTLK). Of these, four were factory-fresh deliveries and the remaining five were units previously operated by Red Wings and Yamal Airlines. Throughout 2018 and 2019 GTLK filed several lawsuits against IrAero in pursuit of pending lease payments, all of which ended up in a friendly settlement.



In an interview with Interfax, IrAero’s general director Yury Lapin, insisted that according to SCAC’s figures, the Superjet 100’s operational economy offers an average monthly flight-time of 202 hours, but in the course of its operational experience, IrAero has never been able to come “anywhere close to these numbers.”

IRAERO - B777-200ER - VP-BLI

Ton Jochems - AYT

IrAero launches year-round Boeing 777 services to China

IrAero has added three Boeing 777-200s to its fleet primarily for operations to China (IrAero)

Russian regional carrier IrAero has officially announced the launch of services to China utilising the three Boeing 777-200 wide-body aircraft it has recently added to its fleet. The year-round services will be offered initially from cities across Russia to resort destinations on Hainan Island. Flights to Haikou will be operated from Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Kazan, Ufa and Yekaterinburg. Apart from the latter, IrAero will become the first operator to offer direct services between these city pairs.

All of IrAero’s B777s are configured to seat 11 passengers in business and 360 in economy class, so the total capacity is sufficient to carry more than 1,800 tourists to the Chinese resorts each week. Together with its Chinese partner, travel agency Pearl River, the airline plans to both increase its frequencies to Hainan and add more destinations in China in the future.

IrAero currently operates services to China using smaller aircraft, including the Russian-made Superjet 100 (SSJ100) regional jet. Rumours of the Irkutsk-based airline’s B777 China expansion plans have been circulating for some six months, but the airline has thus far remained tight-lipped. Notably, all three wide-bodies, with tail numbers VP-BSJ, VP-BMR and VP-BLI, were previously operated by the now defunct VIM Airlines, a much bigger Moscow-based charter airline which had also intended to launch a similar Pearl River programme.

With insolvency forcing it out of the market, this suddenly created significant capacity opportunities, with Russian charter carrier Pegas Fly (the trade name of Ikar Airlines which, along with its sister carrier Nordwind Airlines, is part of the Turkey-backed Pegas Touristik group) first to strike an agreement with the agency for the operation of Boeing 767-300 flights to Haikou from Zhukovsky airport serving Moscow. Another Russian carrier, Alrosa Airlines, has also recently received approval for Boeing 737-800 services to Sanya and is to operate flights on behalf of the Pearl River travel agency, it is reported.

The China market remains an ever-growing, attractive destination for Russian airlines, as it offers lucrative business development opportunities, especially with the Chinese government stimulating the market by providing financial support (albeit primarily for local carriers) for a number of long-haul flights to what are described as ‘second-tier destinations’ – even though they have populations exceeding 10 million. The subsidies can equate to as much as one third of operational costs. However, the risk of overestimating these opportunities is real, as the sad cautionary tale of VIM Airlines illustrates.

China is now the second largest market (by passengers carried on scheduled flights) for Russian airlines over the last three years. In 2017 the market segment saw 1.9 million passengers moving between the two nations, up 27 per cent year-on-year. A further 349,000 passengers travelled on charter flights, 230 per cent up on the previous year.

As well as the four Russian carriers which operate scheduled and charter flights to China from Moscow (Aeroflot and Royal Flight from Sheremetyevo and S7 Airlines and Azur Air from Domodedovo), all other major airports in Russia have been actively developing their relationships with Chinese airlines by obtaining special certificates (such as Welcome Chinese and China Friendly) from Chinese tourism authorities, confirming their compliance with the minimum requirements for serving Chinese tourists. Russia’s Ural Airlines has even received an approval to operate flights between China and Thailand, using fifth-freedom traffic rights.

Three ex-VIM Airlines Boeing 777s destined for IrAero

Ex-VIM Airlines’ Boeing 777s will help IrAero to break into the long-haul market (Photo by Alexander Mishin / Transport-Photo.com)

Russia’s IrAero airline will receive three Boeing 777-200 aircraft that were previously operated by the now-defunct VIM Airlines. They will become the first widebody airliners in IrAero’s fleet. They are being acquired under operation leasing for five years and should join IrAero’s fleet in April and May of this year.

The Irkutsk-based airline will use the newly acquired aircraft to transport Chinese tourists to and from Russia. On February 26 Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency approved IrAero to operate once weekly flights to China on 14 routes out of Moscow and 5 out of St. Petersburg.

Currently Moscow’s Vnukovo airport is considered the most likely future base for IrAero’s 777s. Line maintenance for the aircraft will be carried out by Russian MRO provider UTG Maintenance & Engineering, which just opened a new line maintenance station at Pulkovo airport, in St. Petersburg. The aircraft will be painted into IrAero livery.

Before its exit from the market at the end of last year VIM Airlines was developing actively on the Chinese market. The airline, therefore, left a void in the market that IrAero stepped in to fill.

The decision of IrAero to enter the long-haul market is not without controversy. The carrier does not seem to have a well-formed development strategy. Currently the airline is trying to get the most out of its Sukhoi Superjet 100s, but most of its revenue comes from its use of Antonov An-24/26 and Bombardier CRJ100/200 regional aircraft.

By Artyom Korenyako
by Russian Aviation Insider

IrAero eyes B777s for China flights

IrAero (IO, Irkutsk Int'l) is considering adding B777-200 capacity to its fleet in the first quarter of 2018, Russian Aviation Insider reported.

The privately-owned carrier is reported to be looking into as many as three B777-200s to be added to the fleet in 2018. The new type would allow the airline to expand into long-haul operations, predominantly to China, thus serving the market niche left after the bankruptcy of VIM Airlines (NN, Moscow Domodedovo) in October 2017.

The airline has already posted a job advertisement for flight and cabin crew on its website, but has quickly taken it offline, Russian Aviation Insider reports.

The new aircraft, some of which might be ex-VIM metal, are expected to be based out of an unspecified airport in Moscow.

According to the ch-aviation fleets modules, IrAero's jet fleet currently consists of three CRJ-200s and nine SSJ 100/95s. In addition, IrAero also operate six An-24s and 13 An-26 aircraft, the latter both in cargo and passenger configuration. While the majority of its eighty-three weekly flights are domestic services in Russia, the airline also flies from Irkutsk Int'l 2x weekly to each of Harbin and Manzhouli, as well as weekly from Krasnoyarsk to Manzhouli.

ch aviation

IrAero takes delivery of fifth SSJ100

The new aircraft is fitted out in a single-class 100-seat configuration (Alex Snow / Wikipedia)

Irkutsk-based carrier IrAero has taken delivery of its fifth Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) regional jetliner, OEM Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company reports. The aircraft was delivered under a contract signed between the airline and GTLK State Transport Leasing Company for four SSJ 100LR (long range) airplanes.

The newly delivered SSJ 100, registration number RA-89075, was manufactured at the end of 2016, according to open sources. The cabin comes in a 100-seat single-class configuration, and can be rearranged into a two-class layout seating 93.

IrAero has told Russian Aviation Insider that it plans to operate its SSJ100s on routes from Irkutsk to Moscow, from Omsk and Irkutsk to southern Russia, and also to Southeast Asian destinations, including Vietnam, Thailand, and southern China.

With the delivery of the new aircraft, IrAero’s SSJ100 fleet now stands at five airframes. The other four airliners were taken pre-owned from the Russian carriers Aeroflot and RedWings.

According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, the carrier also operates three Bombardier CRJ200LR regional jets, six Antonov An-24 and seven An-26 turboptops.

Russian Aviation Insider

IrAero to start SuperJet ops in late 2Q

IrAero (IO, Irkutsk) is planning to begin scheduled SSJ 100-95 operations later this June Russia's AEX.ru has reported.


On lease from the Russian State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK), four SuperJets will be used on flights from Irkutsk to Moscow Domodedovo as well as from Omsk to the leisure destinations of Adler/Sochi, Anapa, Gelendzhik, Mineralnye Vody and Krasnodar.

IrAero currently operates one CRJ-100, four CRJ-200s, and seventeen An-24 and An-26 turboprops on scheduled passenger flights across Russia as well as to China and Kazakhstan. It also organizes charter and cargo flights.

ch aviation