EVERETT — A small but mighty force is creeping its way into the commercial jet market.
Russia and the former Soviet states are slowly pushing their way into the aerospace field, in interest as well as orders. Russia’s leader hopes to rejuvenate commercial jet building in that country. And aircraft orders have dribbled into the Boeing Co. and Airbus from airlines and freight carriers in Russia and its neighbors.
Earlier this month, Russia’s AirBridgeCargo took delivery of its first Boeing 747-400 Freighter at Everett’s Paine Field. A subsidiary of Volga-Dnepr Group, the cargo company leased the Boeing freighter from GE Commercial Aviation Services.
“The 747-400 Freighter will allow us to provide superior service to our customers, while reducing operating costs and increasing reliability and profitability,” said Gennady Pivovarov, senior vice president of production at AirBridgeCargo. “It will help us to open new routes and explore business opportunities in new markets, in particular North America.”
The new airplane is the sixth 747 freighter in the AirBridge fleet, joining five 747-200 or -300 Freighters. It’s the first of two 747-400 Freighters that AirBridgeCargo will lease from GE Commercial Aviation Services.
“This is a milestone for Boeing to deliver our first new 747-400 freighter to Russia,” said Craig Jones, Boeing’s vice president of sales for Russia and Central Asia.
Volga-Dnepr Group has five Boeing 747-8 Freighters on order. The newest 747 freighter will enter service in late 2009.
Boeing estimates that Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States will need about 1,060 aircraft, worth some $70 billion, over the next 20 years, according to the aerospace company’s 2007 global outlook. In previous years, Boeing didn’t forecast for the region.
But Russia and the states have begun making their presence noticeable in the past few years.
“We can expect continued steady demand for new airplanes as airlines look to modernize and grow their fleets,” Jones said earlier this year.
In 2007, Boeing has received more than 50 orders from carriers in Russia or the former Soviet states. In years like this when Boeing wins more than 1,000 orders, the region’s contribution seems tiny. But those orders will seem more significant as the aircraft order cycle begins to taper down, as even Boeing and Airbus predict it will do by 2009.
Airbus also has benefited in orders from Russia and its neighbor states, taking in about 60 orders from carriers in the area this year. The European plane maker is less optimistic about the growth potential of Russia and the former Soviet states, forecasting last year that the region’s fleet size will grow from 716 to 1,187 in 20 years.
Airbus may also view the region differently after several agreements it made with aerospace companies there this year. Russia’s leader, Vladmir Putin, has expressed interest in buying stake in Airbus’ parent company EADS and kick-starting the industry in his country.
In March, Airbus agreed to send work for its newest commercial jet, its A350 XWB, to Russian aerospace companies. Russian companies also inked a joint venture agreement with EADS to establisher a freighter conversion plant in Moscow.
Since then, Airbus has seen interest from Russian airlines in its A350 XWB. Boeing’s 787 also has received orders from Russian airlines such as Aeroflot and S7.
Airbus and Boeing agree on the size of plane the region will need most: the single-aisle A320 or 737. And both have seen orders for their single-aisle planes this year. The two jet makers also agree the region’s cargo business will grow at a faster rate even than its air passenger traffic, giving AirBridgeCargo and Volga-Dnepr a leg up on that expansion.
Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454; mdunlop@heraldnet.com.
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