Aeroflot Plus, the business aviation arm of airline Aeroflot, has recently been called upon to aid in Russia’s latest round of elections. Political figures have been chartering the company’s two vip-configured Tupolev 134s as they canvass support up and down the country.

Business development manager Dmitry Liseytsev said: “These elections are a very interesting

time for us because they mean the aircraft are barely standing still. The Tupolevs are particularly popular amongst the politicians, as well as corporate clients from large industrial companies.’

Aeroflot Plus has operated the aircraft, previously employed in Aeroflot’s commercial fleet, since 1996. Liseytsev said: “This is the most appropriate aircraft for our domestic market. Unfortunately, due to noise restrictions we are not able to fly it over to many of the western European countries. At the moment our destinations are Russia, Cyprus, Turkey and the UAE – basically countries where there are no restrictions. There is no hushkit equipment for this aircraft and economically it just doesn’t make sense to try it.”

At the moment the company charters jets which comply with noise restrictions, when necessary. “60 per cent of our business is over to Europe, which means we have to charter jets from other companies around four times a week. Consequently we’re considering purchasing a western jet for European operations - something like a Challenger 601 or 604 would be ideal. But for our domestic flights, the Tupolev works out cheaper to operate,” he said.

Liseytsev revealed that there

are around 25 vip-configured Tupolev 134s in the Moscow region. “The fact that we’re associated with a well-known company such as Aeroflot is an advantage and means our aircraft are always popular. There was a degree of stagnation in the Russian market after the financial crises in 1998, but we’re now recovering and many corporations are doing well so they can afford to fly in these aircraft.

“Our base at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport is also

ideal, because it has a number of business terminals which makes it perfect for operating a vip service,” said Liseytsev.