Aeroflot to get first Boeing-777 in January
MOSCOW. Aug 27 (Interfax) - OJSC Aeroflot - Russian Airlines plans to receive the first of eight long-haul Boeing 777 in January, the airline's chief Vitaly Savelyev wrote on his Twitter account.
The aircraft will have a three-class configuration featuring premium economic class, which is a first for Aeroflot.
In March of last year, Aeroflot signed a firm contract to acquire six Boeing-777-300ER and two Boeing-777-200ER. The company also disclosed the price tag of the deal at the time - $1.156 billion for the eight planes.
According to the contract, all of the planes should be delivered by the second quarter of 2016.
During the winter flight schedule, Aeroflot will open 16 new destinations, Savelyev said. "In September we will open flights to Bologna, and in October to Tallinn and Miami. Another 13 destinations will follow those, including Toronto, Lyon and Alicante," he wrote.
Aeroflot is the largest Russian passenger air carrier whose main shareholder is the government (51.17%). Last year the company transported over 14 million passengers, compared to 11.3 million in 2010.
Aeroflot operates over 120 aircraft.