AtlasGlobal Ukraine drops An-148 plans

AtlasGlobal UA (UH, Lvov) managing director Sergei Podgorodetsky says that after a full due diligence of the type, his airline has formally abandoned plans to acquire An-148-100s from local Ukrainian manufacturer Antonov Design Bureau (Gostomel).

Speaking to Russian business daily Delo, Podgorodetsky attributed the decision to the type's overinflated price.

"We considered the possibility [of operating An-148s] last year," he said. "Previously our investor had expressed an interest in buying the An-148, after which the whole delegation visited the [Antonov] plant and carried out an audit of the aircraft. However, despite all its Pros, the An-148 is not without significant drawbacks, the first of which - its inflated price. We found that the cost of one Antonov equated to that of an Airbus or Boeing and even though it has a good likelihood of profitability, it just cannot compete in terms of carrying capacity. As a result, if we take all of this into consideration, the cost per seat of the An-148 works out more expensive."

The AtlasGlobal (KK, Antalya) subsidiary currently operates two A320-200s on scheduled services from Kharkov, Lvov, and Zaporozhye to Istanbul Atatürk.