Aeroflot Group will receive only 14 instead of 24 aircraft of the bankrupt Transaero airline, Aeroflot CEO Vitaly Saveliev said..

Apparently, this refers to 24 aircraft to be transferred to the group’s subsidiary, Rossiya Airlines.

The group has already received 12 aircraft, Saveliev said.

That is the number of aircraft Rossiya has received from the ex-Transaero fleet since April 2016, including seven Boeing 747-400s and five Boeing 777-300s.

Two more aircraft are being prepared for transfer, the Aeroflot CEO added.

"The rest (ten ex-Transaero aircraft – ed. Russin Aviation Insider) require a good sum of money for repairs the lessors are not ready to spend. It's unprofitable," Saveliev said.

Judging by his words, the group is not going to lease them. "We had recruited personnel especially for them and created a maintenance group, but restoring the aircraft's airworthiness is a costly affair. They had been operated flat out with little care taken".

Aeroflot CEO clarified that most of the 10 aircraft left are Boeing 747s. Out of the aircraft the Aeroflot group is to acquire it has not yet received five Boeing 767s and seven Boeing 747 (including two airframes in preparation for the transfer).

Aeroflot agreed to take over Transaero aircraft after the latter ceased operation in October 2015 because of debt overload.

Apparently Rossiya won't receive the rest of the aircraft despite the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin virtually instructed Sberbank, VTB and Vneshekonombank (these banks' leasing structures worked with Transaero) to find resources and transfer the long-haul aircraft of the bankrupt carrier to Aeroflot subsidiary.

RUSSIA has pulled the plug on the country’s debt-laden second-largest airline Transaero after state-controlled Aeroflot backed out of a deal to buy the carrier.

And now, Twitter users are watching sadly as its planes are flown to storage spaces — including one very special aircraft, one with an Amur Tiger painted on it.

Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev had warned earlier this month the airline faced bankruptcy after Aeroflot failed to reach agreement with Transaero’s creditors on a restructure of its estimated 250 billion roubles ($5.2 billion) debt pile.

Aeroflot’s board of directors had in September approved the acquisition of a controlling 75-per cent-plus-one-share stake in Transaero for the symbolic sum of 1 rouble in a government-backed deal But the deal foundered on the debt issue and the carrier, hit by three straight years of heavy losses, filed for bankruptcy on October 1 after the civil aviation authority ordered it to stop selling tickets.

After 25 years in the air its 106-strong fleet, mainly composed of long-haul Boeing jets, will be grounded after the federal air transport agency Rosaviatsia ruled its precarious financial state posed a potential threat to passenger safety.

Privately-owned Transaero, which employs some 10,000 staff, started out by leasing Aeroflot aircraft and serving destinations across the former Soviet Union as well as parts of Asia and the Caribbean.

The firm’s woes add to a growing exodus of foreign carriers with the likes of EasyJet and Air Berlin as well as Lufthansa announcing pullouts in recent months, citing weak demand as Russia labours under international sanctions imposed over its actions in Ukraine.

The Russian market has been further hit by the slump in oil prices which has helped provoke the worst drop in purchasing power in 15 years, while the rouble has also seen its value eroded, forcing up costs of fuel and aircraft leasing.

Tuesday evening saw a flicker of hope with a reported bid for a majority stake in Transaero by Vladislav Filev, CEO of S7, Russia’s number-three carrier.

However, the Russian authorities said the distressed airline had been grounded definitively, with Rosaviatsia director Alexander Neradko telling reporters its operating license had been revoked.

Deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov said the airline “will leave the market” but assured that “passengers will not suffer” as other carriers, led by Aeroflot, would take on its 156 routes.