S7 may receive some Tu-214s in a rare configuration with a flight engineer's seat. Mikhail Parnev, head of GTLK, announced the development of such a contract.
At a meeting between the May holidays, S7 confirmed its interest in the project. We are in the process of developing the technical specifications. We will finalize it in the second half of the year. Then we will fix the funding volumes and delivery times by year.
After this, GTLK intends to sign a firm contract for the first batch of aircraft and formalize an option for the remaining aircraft. This refers to the delivery of Tu-214s in an updated version, which the United Aircraft Corporation is working on.
The main feature of the first deliveries will be the cockpit configuration. S7 will receive the first ten aircraft in a version with a separate flight engineer's seat. The remaining liners are planned to be delivered in the standard configuration – with a crew consisting of a captain and a co-pilot.
Earlier, OAK reported that a large contract for approximately 100 Tu-214 aircraft was being discussed with S7. The project is considered one of the key ones for expanding the Russian fleet of medium-haul liners against the backdrop of the import substitution program in civil aviation.
