Russia’s only potential customer for the Airbus A220-300 has cancelled plans to lease the aircraft while it undergoes a revised fleet development strategy. At the same time the airline has also decided to retire its Tupolev Tu-204s and focus on operations with its Airbus A320s until the arrival of Russia’s MC-21.
State-owned, Red Wings Airlines, which had intended to be the first Russian operator of the A220-300 in May, decided to abandon the project, the announcement was made by Evgeny Klyucharev, the airline’s general director.
Red Wings cancelled its leasing contract for six A220s after lessor GTLK Europe unexpectedly amended the contract price. Klyucharev refuses to disclose the figures but points out that Red Wings is ‘disappointed” by the incident, as it had far-reaching plans for the A220 airliner.
GTLK confirmed Red Wings had backed out of the deal and stated: “The price of the aircraft increased, which led to the escalation of the leasing rate. So, the contract was annulled with GTLK.”
The airline fleet was listed as four Airbus A320, eight A321s and five Tu-204s, the latter were retired in October 2018.
