OREANDA-NEWS. May 30, 2007.  The S7 Group has signed a contract for the supply of 15 long-haul Next-Generation Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft and has the confirmed right to purchase another 10 aircraft under the same terms. The company will receive the first 7 aircraft in 2014. The value of the contract, at the catalogue price for the aircraft, is $2,400,000,000.

The airline is to start using the aircraft commercially on international and domestic medium- and long-haul flights as part of its 7-year plan to overhaul the S7 fleet.

‘Today this is the most modern aircraft in the global civil aviation, and using it will allow us not only to maintain our status as Russia’s leading carrier, but also to pull further away from our competitors,’ said Vladislav Filyov, General Director of S7. ‘The new airliners will also allow us to offer our passengers a completely different level of comfort and extremely high reliability and flight safety.’

‘We are pleased that a company from Russia has joined the list of the first buyers of our next-generation aircraft,’ said Marlin Dailey, Boeing’s Vice-President of Sales for Europe, Russia and Central Asia. ‘Today, including the contract with S7, we already have confirmed orders from 45 companies all over the world for 584 Boeing 787 aircraft, including some of the world’s biggest carriers: Virgin Atlantic Airways, Northwest Airlines, JAL, Qantas and Singapore Airlines.’

S7 experts are currently choosing the engine manufacturer for the aircraft and deciding on the final layout of the passenger cabin. The Boeing 787 features a number of innovative solutions that make it possible significantly to improve passenger comfort on long-haul flights. The use of composite materials in the construction of the aircraft makes it possible to maintain more comfortable pressure and humidity levels in the passenger cabin, making long-haul flights less tiring for passengers.