Russia must modernize aircraft engines, not aircraft - official
MOSCOW. April 20 (Interfax) - Russia is preparing a massive upgrade of its aircraft engine production facilities, said Vladimir Kozhin, the Russian Presidential Property Manager.
"Our aircraft cannot be "dirty" by definition. Speaking of engines, there are ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) standards for several categories, today the toughest one is in effect, Category 3 for civilian aircraft. All aircraft from the Rossiya special fleet, flying the president and the prime minister to Europe, are certified, that is to say they are accepted under ICAO Category 3, and they have been no problem. These engines are made in our country, Perm Motor Plant is making them," Kozhin said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper published on Wednesday.
He was commenting on the question that, "local newspapers in Switzerland were laughing at how noisy and dirty the Russian president's plane is and that if it had not been for the head of state, the plane would simply not have been allowed to Europe."
"Engines should be modernized, not aircraft. Specialists are working on it. Today we have no problem flying on the currently operating aircraft. There are other problems in aircraft building," Kozhin said
The Russian Presidential Property Management Department "did buy two Airbus 319 and two Augusta helicopters," he said.
"Plus, we have two Falcons flying at the moment. One can see how much a flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg costs on (Ilyushin) Il-96 and on Falcon. It will be instantly clear why the latter was bought. Very many flights of the president across the country are of a local nature," Kozhin said.
The Russian president "is flying on a Falcon when it is a short flight and a small airfield. We simply do not have this class of aircraft," he said.
"We have now ordered another series of new aircraft, but the industry is not keeping up, and not just failing to keep up, unfortunately, it often lets us down. We only started to receive two new (Tupolev) Tu-214s that were supposed to be supplied two years ago. But life goes on, one has to fly, one has to run the country," Kozhin said.
Asked whether the Russian president will fly on Airbus the official said "he will. It will be largely linked to advanced groups and so on, but the president will fly if need be."
