Russia's major air carrier will receive 34 aircraft of bancrupt competitor — Aeroflot CEO

Aeroflot will receive 34 Transaero aircraft, the first will be delivered in March 2016, Aeroflot CEO Vitaly Saveliev said Tuesday at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We concluded a lease agreement with our leasing companies - Sberbank Leasing, VTB-Leasing and VEB-Leasing - to receive Transaero aircraft for our fleet. 34 aircraft, including long-haul, which are now undergoing maintenance, and we hope to receive the first aircraft in March," Saveliev said.

According to him, most of the Transaero aircraft will be transferred to Rossiya Airline fleet (part of Aeroflot).

Saveliev added, that Aeroflot Group opened up more than 6,000 vacancies for Transaero personnel while more than 2,000 former employees of the airline dissolved last year, already work in Russia’s flagship airline, Chief Executive Officer Vitaly Saveliev said on Tuesday.

"As was planned Aeroflot opened up 6,060 vacancies in Aeroflot itself and Rossiya airline (Aeroflot’s subsidiary - TASS) for Transaero personnel while more than 2,000 former employees of Transaero already work (in Aeroflot)," CEO said.

He reminded that Aeroflot transported almost 1.9 mln Transaero passengers. "Aeroflot has fully met a goal of transporting Transaero passengers. We have transported about 1.9 mln passengers. Only a small group of passengers left - we reimburse full cost of tickets for this year," he said.

Saveliev noted that Transaero leaving the market has not brought significant imbalances in Russia, "fortunately, Aeroflot did not become a monopoly, despite these significant numbers."

"If we take into account foreign companies that also transport Russian passengers, our market share as Aeroflot group is estimated at 37%. If we evaluate only Russian airlines, there is relevant statistics, it is all the same - 42%. That is - we are not talking about 50% share or more," Saveliev said.

According to Saveliev, at the time when Transaero was engaged in price dumping, their offers on the market exceeded 40%, "so that all market players have felt positive, because those 13 mln people that were transported by Transaero in 2014 were distributed between other airlines, including UTair, S7, Ural Airlines".