LED based Rossiya, the biggest operator of the AN-148, has grounded the fleet.
I believe Rossiya were recently taken over by Aeroflot. When Vladavia were take over by Aeroflot their TU-204's were quickly grounded.
Not sure what is going on here, there are a number of possible issues;
1) Spares are hard to get because of Ukraine conflict
2) Spares are too expensive
3) Political decision not to use Ukraine designed Aircraft
4) Inefficiency of the Aircraft
5) Pressure by Skyteam not to use Russian made Aircraft (I am sure I read somewhere that Skyteam told Aeroflot that all Skyteam flights must be operated by Western Aircraft - obviously an exception has been made for the Superjet).
If anyone knows more please share.
Whatever the reason, it's sad to see this beautiful A/C dying. I caught one from SVO to LED once and they were running late. The crew tried so hard to make up time I seriously thought they were going to take off from the Taxi Way! When we got Airborne it was a smooth, quick flight and the Cabin had heaps of Leg Room (admittedly we were in the Baulk Row
I believe Rossiya were recently taken over by Aeroflot. When Vladavia were take over by Aeroflot their TU-204's were quickly grounded.
Not sure what is going on here, there are a number of possible issues;
1) Spares are hard to get because of Ukraine conflict
2) Spares are too expensive
3) Political decision not to use Ukraine designed Aircraft
4) Inefficiency of the Aircraft
5) Pressure by Skyteam not to use Russian made Aircraft (I am sure I read somewhere that Skyteam told Aeroflot that all Skyteam flights must be operated by Western Aircraft - obviously an exception has been made for the Superjet).
If anyone knows more please share.
Whatever the reason, it's sad to see this beautiful A/C dying. I caught one from SVO to LED once and they were running late. The crew tried so hard to make up time I seriously thought they were going to take off from the Taxi Way! When we got Airborne it was a smooth, quick flight and the Cabin had heaps of Leg Room (admittedly we were in the Baulk Row
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