Aircraft
New An-148 deliveries
On September 9, 2011 the Polet (Flight) airline commenced revenue service on the Antonov-148 regional twinjet, thus becoming second Russian operator of the type after launch customer GTK Rossiya. That day the newly acquired airplane flew round trip Voronezh – St. Petersburg – Voronezh. On its first revenue flight with Polet the airplane was 90% full. The airline’s general director Anatoly Karpov was on that flight, which lasted one hour forty minutes and went on cruise altitude of nine to eleven thousand meters. “The An-148 is a very comfortable airplane, with a quite cabin. Stewardesses say it is convenient to work in: here are two kitchens, two sanitary units in the back and aft, and comfortable leather seats for passengers. I believe the
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An-148 is at the world’s level and in some respect fares better its foreign competitors. We are happy to be among first operations of this new type”, Karpov said. What is remarkable about Polet An-148 project is that the financial package for it is structured by Russia’s largest financial institution, the Savings Bank (Russian acronym Sberbank). Furthermore, this project is the first one for Sberbank when it acquires airplanes from domestic manufacturers. Polet took delivery of two newly constructed An-148-100E regional jets from the VASO
plant in Voronezh on July 20, 2011. The respective deal is structured by Sberbank Leasing (special leasing structure wholly owned by the bank), and calls for ten such aircraft to be built at VASO and placed with Polet in 2010-2011 time frame. Reportedly, these airplane go at US dollar 26 million each. Commenting on lessor selection, Polet general director Anatoly Karpov said Sberbank Leasing offered the airline a lowest interest rate for hired capital. The An-148 will supplement five Saab 2000s and six