Aeroflot Board Approves Deal for 5 Airbus-320

MOSCOW. Oct 27 (Interfax) – The board of directors of Russian flag carrier OAO Aeroflot Russian Airlines on Wednesday evening approved a deal to acquire five Airbus-320 planes, Alexander Kanishchev, director of the airline’s route management department, said at a Thursday press conference.

“The board decided in favor of approving the deal,” he said.

He also said that the company hopes that these planes will in part of the Aeroflot fleet by spring 2006. “We hope by spring to add 12 Airbus planes,” he said. This includes the five new Airbus-320 to be received through a leasing company, the acquisition of which was approved on Wednesday, and seven Airbus-321 planes to be supplied directly from Airbus. The board approved the acquisition of these seven planes at the end of September.

We hope that this will not be the limit of the fleet’s expansion, we need to expand our fleet further, Kanishchev said.