Bahrain 2012: Red Wings eyes up Bahrain as destination

Russian carrier Red Wings is making its first appearance at a show in the region as it mulls starting scheduled services to Bahrain and prepares to take delivery of a fleet of new variants of the Tupolev Tu-204s.

Speaking at the show yesterday, Red Wings chairman Alexander Kanishchev said the airline’s decision to make its first appearance at BIAS, rather than at Dubai, reflected its careful pace of growth.

“Business should be done step-by-step. It is much easier to start at a little show.”

Red Wings operates a fleet of eight Tu-204s but was eagerly awaiting the arrival from next year of the new-generation Tu-204SM, said Kanishchev. Red Wings plans to lease 15 of the new variants, with the first arriving in the first quarter of 2013.

With new Perm Aviadvigatel PS-90A2 turbofans replacing earlier PS-90s, together with new avionics, the revamped aircraft promised considerably better performance, he said.

The new SM had been developed to Red Wings’ requirements, he added. The current design was good, but its avionics were only “so-so”.

Talking of the PS-90A2s, he said: “I’m afraid you won’t believe me, but the lifetime of the new engines will be 2.5 times greater than before.” The hot part of the engine would have a service life of 10,000 cycles; the cold part, 20,000 cycles. The Tu-204SM’s APU would also have a lifespan approximately three times that of the present unit, he said.

At present, Red Wings operates mainly on behalf of Russian tour operators but also has some scheduled routes and it is looking at expanding its scheduled component with as many as 22 new destinations.

The carrier has flown in the past to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but is looking at Bahrain as a potential new destination. Kanishchev noted that there were no current services between the Russian capital and the island.

“We’re making investigations and I think that in three years the size of the market will be good for us. I hope that we will have at least 7-8% better seat-kilometre costs than our main competitors.”

Kanishchev added that a problem with the existing Tu-204s was the availability and high cost of spares due to the aircraft’s small production run; only around 45 of the type have been built. With plans to build larger numbers of the Tu-204SM, he hoped that the cost of spares would drop.