Officials: Russia Needs Western Airliners to Meet Demand

[Matt Molnar]

AP, via Dow Jones Newswires, via CNNMoney:

Russia Needs Western Airliners To Meet High Demand -Officials
March 13, 2008: 01:08 PM EST

MOSCOW (AP)--Russia's aviation industry is unable to meet the growing domestic demand for new passenger planes, and the carriers will have to import Western- made airliners, officials said Thursday.

The statements during parliamentary hearings were in stark contrast with President Vladimir Putin's pledges to revive the nation's aviation industry.

Russian airlines need to replace their aging Soviet-built OAO Tupolev ( TUPL.RS)and Ilyushin (AKIL.RS) airliners quickly, but the nation's once-mighty aviation enterprises, weakened by a post-Soviet economic meltdown, can't produce enough aircraft, industry officials said during hearings in the Russian parliament. [FULL ARTICLE]

These guys are brave. Putin made a lot of big promises and they're basically saying he was either an idiot or flat out lying when he made them because they're impossible to fulfill.

[dimamo1983]

I do not see how this is news. They have been importing old 737s and 320s for the last ten years because our own industry has been virtually dead. Two years ago I saw some stats for 2004 or 2005 production - something like five airplanes as compared to hundreds a year during the Soviet Union era. There are no mid-range airplane designs that would be ready any time soon so until then, there is nothing else to do but to get the 'western' planes.

As far as competition from the foreign carriers inside Russia, as far as I know there are no carriers flying routes inside Russia, so I don't know what they are talking about there.

Dima