Aeroflot asked to make 99 changes to the passenger cabins of the Tu-214 – Kommersant
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Aeroflot turned to the Tupolev company (part of the United Aircraft Corporation; UAC) with a request to make 99 changes to the passenger compartment of medium-haul Tu-214 aircraft. Writes about it RBC with reference to the working correspondence between the carrier and the manufacturer, dated April 2023. Representatives of the airline and UAC confirmed that the parties are discussing the parameters of the Tu-214 passenger cabin.
Tu-214 is a long-haul narrow-body aircraft with a domestic PS-90 engine with a capacity of up to 210 people and a flight range of up to 6.5 thousand km. The aircraft is produced at the Kazan Aviation Plant. S.P. Gorbunov – a branch of Tupolev PJSC.
Aeroflot asked to make changes to the parameters of the Tu-214 passenger cabin after the airline’s specialists visited the Kazan Aviation Plant at the beginning of this year, RBC’s interlocutor specified. At the same time, the representative of the UAC noted that during the inspection itself, the representatives of Aeroflot had no comments: “A normal work process is underway to coordinate the customized configuration of the aircraft.”
It follows from the working correspondence that Aeroflot’s proposals concern passenger seats, a passenger service panel, a kitchen and lighting, an entertainment system, doors and other components of the Tu-214 passenger compartment. In particular, the airline asked:
- increase the volume of luggage racks so that suitcases are placed across and up to six suitcases fit on one shelf, corresponding to the parameters established by Aeroflot (no more than 55 cm long, 40 cm wide, 25 cm high);
- on business class seats under the back, install a lowering step for the passenger who sits in the next row, in the tables – stands for a phone or tablet (according to correspondence, Tupolev specialists believe that these requirements cannot be met so far);
- to bring the Tu-214 rescue equipment into line with Western equipment used by Aeroflot (the airline mainly flies on Airbus and Boeing aircraft). Tupolev offered to replace foreign equipment with Russian counterparts, since imported equipment is not supplied to Russia due to sanctions;
- use ATLAS standard equipment in the kitchen (it is not supplied to Russia after the imposition of sanctions in 2022, so Tupolev specialists also suggested installing Russian equipment, but of different sizes, to replace it).
The executive director of the AviaPort agency, Oleg Panteleev, told RBC that, as a rule, the customer himself pays for such changes. According to him, there are exceptions, but they do not apply to the Tu-214. According to Sergey Pavlov, General Director of the Center for Aviation Technologies and Interior, the cost of the existing interior of Tu-214 aircraft is about 500 million rubles. The press services of the UAC and Aeroflot did not comment on the possible cost of the discussed customization of the Tu-214 interior.
On September 7, 2022, Aeroflot and UAC signed an agreement to purchase 339 aircraft, including 40 Tu-214s. The airline also planned bring the Tu-214 to the crew of two pilots – the commander and co-pilot. Now these aircraft must be operated by a crew of three – two pilots and a flight engineer.
At the end of last year, Aeroflot CEO Sergei Aleksandrovsky said that airlines needed the Tu-214 fleet to reduce risks when they start using new MC-21 aircraft that have not yet been put into commercial operation.
Why the return of Soviet-designed airliners to passenger traffic is delayed – in material “Kommersant” “Tu” will not arrive then.
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