Atlant-Soyuz opts for 737s and EMB-120s

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Atlant-Soyuz opts for 737s and EMB-120s - Air Transport Intelligence news

Moscow Government-owned operator Atlant-Soyuz has defined its
requirements for 12 foreign-built aircraft.
Following talks with Boeing Capital, the carrier has opted to lease six
Boeing 737-300s. It had early last year indicated it would take Airbus
A320s.
It will also acquire six Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia twin-turboprops.
Both batches are due for delivery during March and April but Atlant-Soyuz
still has to obtain Russian certification for the Embraer 120s before
putting them into service.
The carrier is planning to double its traffic this year to over a million
passengers.
It wants to use 737s for scheduled and charter services to be launched in
accordance with a wish-list from a bunch of Moscow-based tour operators.
The Brazilian turboprops will operate on local routes linking the Russian
capital Moscow with Voronezh, Lipetsk, Bryansk and Belgorod.
A Boeing representative in Moscow says the US manufacturer is prepared to
co-finance the deal with Atlant-Soyuz depending on its final structure.
But it is not clear whether Embraer will participate in funding the
certification of its type in Russia.