Russian planemakers air grievances

Russian planes spend too long on the ground

Protesters have taken to the streets of Moscow to voice their anger over the purchase of foreign planes in preference to Russian ones.

The rally was sparked by the signing of a deal for the purchase of European Airbus aircraft by the Russian airline Aeroflot, according to RIA news agency.

Don't cut off our wings!

Protesting aviation workers

The deal, signed by former President Boris Yeltsin's son-in-law, Valery Okulov, caused "serious concern" in the aviation industry.

Planemakers from all over Russia gathered in front of parliament with banners reading "No to Boeings and A-320s, Yes to Ilyushins" and "Don't Cut off Our Wings".

They complained that if Russian airlines go on buying foreign planes, many plane manufacturers could go bust.

Russia TV said that 45,000 workers in Perm, northeast of Moscow, alone could be out of jobs.

Government promises

Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, trying to placate the protesters, said the airlines had to buy foreign planes because Russian ones were banned from landing in international airports on grounds of noise, cost-efficiency and for environmental reasons.

Workers say no to Boeing, Airbus

He said Russian plants were gearing up to begin production of engines complying with international standards.

"We will start the production of these engines soon, and then Russian-made planes will have no problems in international airports," he said, according to RIA news agency.

Russian planes use 30-40% more fuel than their foreign counterparts, and need more maintenance to keep them in the air.

A top official of Aeroflot - whose fleet of 112 planes is one quarter foreign-built - highlighted the commercial cost of this.

Using Russian-made aircraft is too expensive

Aeroflot official

"Our Western planes are sometimes flying for 15 hours per day. If a plane is in the air, it means we earn money," Anatoly Brylov said on Ren TV.

"A similar Russian-made plane must be left on the ground all the time. It requires technical maintenance much more often. Using Russian-made aircraft is too expensive."

Both Mr Brylov and Mr Klebanov promised that the interests of domestic producers would be taken into account.

Mr Klebanov pledged that the country's major airline companies, Aeroflot and Transaero, would buy 20 Russian planes this year. And he told protesters that leasing planes would help ease the crisis in the industry, and that the government would give 85-per-cent guarantees to companies involved in leasing schemes.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.