Aeroflot will pay over $ 5 billion for 50 MS-21

The airline hopes that the manufacturer will not have difficulties with the supply of spare parts, as it was with the SSJ100.
02.02.2018
Vedomosti
Origin source
On February 1, Aeroflot and its leasing daughter Rostekha-Aviakapital-service signed a firm contract for the delivery of 50 MS-21-300 aircraft for leasing for 12 years, the company said.

The MS-21 is the new Russian medium-haul aircraft, this type of vessel is the most in demand in the world. The first aircraft of the United Aircraft Building Company (UAC) - Irkut promises to deliver in 2020. Already 175 planes have been ordered. But for Aeroflot this is the first contract for the MS-21, although it will be the launch operator of the aircraft.

The amount of leasing payments and reserves for maintenance under the contract will be more than $ 5 billion, Aeroflot and Rostek reported. Deliveries will begin in the first quarter of 2020 and will end in 2026.

The catalog price of one MC-21 is $ 92.3 million, Vedomosti was told earlier by a person close to the UAC. This was also reported with reference to Reuters sources. The Irkut representative declined to comment.

 The market value of the aircraft is about half of the catalog price, managers of two leasing companies say. That is for МС-21 it is approximately $ 46 million.

Aeroflot does not buy airplanes, but leases them. Therefore, the amount of the contract is based on the profitability of the lessor plus the aircraft each year rises by several percent, explains the person close to one of the parties to the transaction.

According to a simple market rule, a leasing company pays for a plane after eight years of operation, but there are a lot of nuances in each contract, the interlocutor of Vedomosti continues. "Aviakapital-service", based on the contract price, will pay for the MS-21 in 5.5 years. "The contract takes into account that" Aviacapital-service "will finance the transaction in Russian banks," the source continues. And this is expensive money, although during the negotiations the rate was lowered, he adds.

Representatives of Rostech and Aeroflot do not comment on the terms of the deal.

 The general director of Aeroflot Vitaly Saveliev said on Thursday that the terms of the contract for MS-21 are more profitable than the Russian regional aircraft SSJ100. From his words it follows that in the first year of operation the vessels will fly an average of 5.7 hours a day, in the second - 7.9 and in the third - 10.8. "This corresponds to Western standards," Saveliev said. SSJ100 from Aeroflot in 2016 flew only three hours a day. The main reason is the difficulty in supplying spare parts.

"Refusing the new models of Airbus and Boeing in favor of the MS-21, Aeroflot has certain risks," said Fyodor Borisov, a leading researcher at the Institute of Transport Economics. But this is his social function as a market leader and a state company. In the world there are different practices: the largest Brazilian airlines were not the first to buy Embraer CRJ aircraft, European carriers, on the contrary, made a big contribution to the rolling of Airbus, China generally focuses on the domestic market, the expert points out.

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