Belavia to acquire Russian-made aircraft

MINSK. Nov 7 (Interfax) - Belavia plans to acquire Russian-made aircraft, the Belarusian airline's CEO, Igor Cherginets said.

"We are preparing agreements with the United Aircraft Corporation of Russia (UAC) to acquire MC-21 and Sukhoi SuperJet New airplanes. We are waiting for when the Russian Federation will produce these planes. They aren't ready yet, but are supposed to start flying and go into commercial operation in 2024-2026," Cherginets was quoted as saying by the Belarusian Transport Ministry's press service.

Belavia now has 13 aircraft that are 11.2 years old on average, which Cherginets said is a "fairly decent figure."

"Western-made airplanes, in principle, can be operated indefinitely. The only thing is that there is such a concept as airworthiness - the aircraft can carry out passenger flights until the age of 30-35 years," Cherginets said.