Aeroflot CEO warns after EU sanctions: "now the market is not ready for the A350".

Although Aeroflot is 51% owned by the Russian government, Aeroflot CEO Saveliev said the carrier is a “free-market friend”.

There is no mistaking the damage the crisis in Ukraine has inflicted on the airline as a whole.

Source: Marina Lystseva

As European Union sanctions began to bite in 2014, international investment drained away and Russia’s currency has plummeted, hitting consumer spending and demand for air travel in turn.

Aeroflot did not escape financial consequences. The airline saw its operating profit fall 43% in 2014 and warned about "facing serious external challenges”.

Source: Olegfrolov

Aeroflot has been reviewing its order for 22 A350s –most recently scheduled for delivery between 2018 and 2023– following the fall in demand which has stemmed from the sanctions.

“The Russian market is not ready now to get this huge aircraft,” Saveliev said, adding:

“Now, in Russia, we have a real crisis impacting the civil aviation market too. That’s why we need to estimate how this crisis will finish.”

Source: Marina Lystseva

“There are many Russian and foreign companies that stopped flying in Russia."

“Everybody understands that this is an extraordinary situation that has happened, and we need to find a political solution,” Saveliev said.

Source: Marina Lystseva

Economic sanctions, he argued, are an inappropriate and counterproductive tool.

“Our business-class cabins remain as full as previously, because politicians, rich guys and actors are still flying." 

Source: Marina Lystseva

"We lost the middle-class tourist passengers who were spending the money in European shops,” he said.

“All the countries in Europe have lost out Russian tourists were travelling and spending billions of dollars in Europe shopping."



Based on the article "Aeroflot chief executive Vitaly Saveliev. Interview" published in Flight International.