OREANDA-NEWS. December 15, 2010. UTair Aviation held a press conference in Khanty-Mansiysk revealing its fleet modernization plans. The event was attended by journalists from leading Russian business and trade media, news agencies, regional newspapers and television channels.

UTair Aviation General Director Andrei Martirosov, Sukhoi aircraft manufacturing General Director Mikhail Pogosyan and Bombardier Commercial Aircraft Sales and Business Development vice-president Rod Sheridan spoke in turns about the prospects of cooperation between the companies. UTair has been operating the Bombardier CRJ 200 regional aircraft since early spring of this year, with 10 aircraft of this type in its fleet and another 5 aircraft due in the spring of 2011. UTair has also recently concluded a contract for new domestically produced aircraft – the short-haul Sukhoi Superjet-100, which will replace the fleet's Tupolev Tu-134 aircraft starting in 2013. Both passenger aircraft were on display in the regional capital, an event attended by journalists and regional government authorities including Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region Governor Natalia Komarova. The governor was even given a personal tour of the Sukhoi Superjet-100 and Bombardier CRJ 200, with a close up look at aircraft interiors and cockpits.

General Director of UTair Aviation Andrei Martirosov, speaking about plans to modernize the fleet of the company, targeted 11 medium-range Boeing 737 airliners to fill the airline's fixed wing fleet in 2011, bringing the total to 32 aircraft of this type. He also revealed the airlines goal to add an additional 10 ATR 72/42 regional turboprop aircraft to the fleet, bring the total to 25. UTair also disclosed plans to add 50 new Russian and foreign helicopters to the fleet in the coming years, including the domestically produced and EASA certified Kamov Ka-32, capable of a wide range of day and night operations over land and sea, as well as 20 Eurocopter Ecureuil light helicopters from the AS350B3 and AS355NP families. UTair is also the launch customer for the next generation EC 175 Eurocopter helicopter. “The planned fleet expansion will ultimately allow us to compete more successfully on the growing market for passenger transport and helicopter operations,” said Andrey Martirosov.

UTair Aviation is one of Russia's four leading passenger airlines. UTair operates more than 250 daily passenger flights on more than 100 local and international routes. In 2010 UTair expects to serve more than 4.8 million passengers, 34% more than in 2009. More than 100 fixed wing aircraft will be involved in reaching this target in 2010, including Boeing 757-200, Tu-154M, Boeing 737-500, ATR 72, Bombardier CRJ 200 and ATR 42 aircraft.

UTair is the world’s largest helicopter operator with a fleet of 253 helicopters of a wide range of classes and capabilities. UTair's helicopter fleet consists of Mil helicopters, light multipurpose Eurocopter (AS 355, AS 350, BO105) and Robinson rotorcraft. UTair is the largest supplier of helicopter services to the United Nations since 1992. UTair's primary Russian client base consists of leading oil and gas companies. As of 2010, UTair provides an expanding range of helicopter services across Russia and in eleven foreign countries.