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Transaero undecided about Moscow airport to handle Airbus A380s

Сompany plans to begin the use of A380s in the first quarter of 2015 to South East Asian destinations

ST. PETERSBURG, June 21 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia’s Transaero airlines has not yet chosen a Moscow airport, from among Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, and Vnukovo, to host Airbus A380 jets, Transaero CEO Olga Pleshakova said on Thursday.

She confirmed reports that the airline had received an offer from the Vnukovo airport to build a shed to service wide-body airpliners of the A380 or Boeing-747 types. “However, it will be only one of the criteria to choose an airport, but not the only one,” she said.

According to Pleshakova, the company plans to begin the use of A380s in the first quarter of 2015 to South East Asian destinations.

On Thursday, Airbus and Transaero signed a contract for four Airbus A380 jets. The contract was signed within the framework of the Petersburg International Economic Forum.

The price of the deal is estimated at 1.7 billion U.S. dollars. Under the contract with Transaero, the A380 jets will have a three-class configuration seating in all 700 passengers. First jets will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine jet airliner. It made its maiden flight on April 27, 2005 and entered initial commercial service in October 2007 with Singapore Airlines. The Airbus A380 provides seating for 525 people in a typical three-class configuration, or up to 853 people in all-economy class configurations. The A380-800 has a design range of 15,400 kilometres and a cruising speed of about 900 kilometers per hour. Transaero is the first Russian airline to operate such jets.

Transaero, which ranks among the world’s 50 biggest airlines and among Europe’s five safest, made its first flight on November 5, 1991. Currently, its fleet is made up of 80 jets, including 19 Boeing-747 jets, 12 Boeigns-777, 14 Boeings-767, 29 Boeings-737, and three Tu-214 planes. It makes flights to 160 destinations in Russia, European, Asian, American and African countries.

The company plans to buy a number of Boeing-787 Dreamliners and Boeings-747-8 in the next five years.