Aeroflot, Irkut, Aviacapital-Service, Rostekhnologii sign MS-21 lease agt.

MOSCOW, August 18 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia's national air carrier
Aeroflot and the company Aviacapital-Service (leasing subsidiary of
Russian Technologies, or Rostekhnologii) signed an agreement at the
MAKS-2011 air show for the lease of 50 MS-21 planes.
Prior to that, Irkut and Rostekhnologii signed a firm contract for the
supply of 50 MS-21 planes. The planes will be leased to Aeroflot. Irkut
and Rostekhnologii signed the memorandum of understanding for the supply
of 50 MS-21 planes in Sochi in 2010.
According to Irkut President Alexei Fyodorov, the approximate price of
the contract is 3 billion U.S. dollars.
Earlier, Aeroflot CEO Vitaly Savelyev said, "If all this is available
on the market we will certainly order these planes in order to have at
least 40 percent of domestically manufactured aircraft in our fleet by
2020."
According to Irkut, which is building the planes, the cost of the
MS-21 medium-haul passenger plane is estimated at 6-7 billion U.S. dollars.
Lufthansa, KLM, and Delta have shown interest in the MS-21 plane.
Irkut is negotiating with all of them.
"Airlines are contributing actively to the future shape of the plane,"
Fyodorov said, adding that it was too early to speak of contracts but did
not rule out that they may buy the plane in the future.
Irkut hopes to sign a contract with Rostekhnologii at the MAKS-2011
aerospace show for the supply of 50 medium-haul MS-21 passenger planes.
"I don't know whether we will be ready to do so, but we are finalising
technical details now," Fyodorov said.
A preliminary agreement for the supply of 50 MS-21 planes was signed
in Sochi in September 2010.