The Russian carrier Aeroflot has taken delivery of two new Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) aircraft, taking the airline’s domestic short-haul passenger aircraft of this kind up to 47.
The aircraft are configured with 12 seats in business class and 75 seats in economy class, and will begin operating on Aeroflot routes in the coming weeks.
The airline is currently the largest operator of the Russian-built Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft and plans to further expand its fleet of SSJ100 aircraft with an additional three new SSJ100 planes, bringing the total number to 50.
Aeroflot has also just marked 60 years of scheduled flights to Delhi, the capital of India – the first regular flight between Moscow and Delhi took place on 18 August 1958 on a Tu-104.
India was Aeroflot’s first country in Southeast Asia, and the airline explained demand and flight frequencies have increased since. At the end of the 1950s, the airline offered one weekly flight to India and now operates two daily flights between Moscow and Delhi.
In Spring 2016 passenger traffic rose sharply following the launch of the second daily flight, while 2017 was a record-setting year for the Moscow-Delhi route, with the airline carrying almost 290 thousand passengers, a 50%year-on-year increase.
The airline said in a statement: “The Moscow-Delhi route is strategically important for Aerflot as it aims to further grow transit traffic between Europe and Asia.”
It added, “Given its size and potential as well as positive legacy of bilateral ties India remains a priority market for Russia’s largest airline.”
Written by: Kimberley Young
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