Russia’s largest air carrier, Aeroflot PJSC, has announced its intention to back down from a deal to purchase 22 787 Dreamliners from Boeing Co. According to a report from Bloomberg, Aeroflot’s chief executive officer Vitaly Savelyev revealed the plans in an interview on Russian television, citing a late delivery time and a weak domestic flight market as their primary reasons.
Aeroflot wanted to scrap the deal in June, worth $4.8 billion at the time, much to the dismay of Boeing. The plane company reported that they had received no such notice from Aeroflot, and were working to deliver the first plane in 2018.
Aeroflot had its eyes on the 787 long before it made its order, and sought compensation for the delayed development in 2010. The airline now thinks that the market would not make the purchase worth their while. They have shifted their focus to purchasing 34 aircraft from Transaero Airlines, including 20 for long-distance flights. The company stands to procure as many as 57 international routes from the deal.
Aeroflot recently offered to buy a stake in the faltering Transaero, as drops domestic and international flights in Russia paired with a weak currency have resulted in quite a difficult time for Russian airlines.
