Sirius-Aero's fleet renovation effort

Sirius-Aero, one of the leading Russian bizav operators, has been renovating its fleet (mostly comprising Hawker jets of different modifications) since 2014 to meet the growing domestic passenger numbers. “Until mid-2014, the newest Hawker aircraft in our fleet was the one built in the late 1980s, but we have since added four Hawkers built in the 1990s and the 2000s,” CEO Nikolay Yakubenko told the Business Aviation Forum on the eve of the Jet Expo 2015 opening. Yakubenko says the operator's Hawkers generate a return on investment in the current market environment, so the company plans to add another one or two such aircraft next year, possibly through a lease scheme. Sirius-Aero is also looking into the possibility of diversify into helicopter services, which are currently enjoying increased demand. According to the information on the Sirius-Aero website, the operator currently has 11 aircraft, including four Tupolev Tu-134s. The company is not planning to retire its Soviet-built airframes, Yakubenko told Show Observer, because they are used for flights to airfields that do not receive Hawkers. Sirius-Aero has recently launched a diversification program, which includes the operation of third-party airplanes.