Vedomosti the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan has decided to cancel the 20% import duty on planes with 112-159 and 220-299 seats. For planes contracted before 2014, zero import duties will be effective until the end of 2018.

This long-awaited decision means that Russian aircraft producers will be protected from duties, while airlines will get more freedom to upgrade their fleets. The import duties for planes with less than 50 and over 300 seats were previously cancelled.

Aeroflot the Russian airline headed by Vitaly Savelyev is currently expanding its fleet by leasing new foreign planes (primarily Airbuses) and will be happy with the news. At the moment no duties are levied on the A-330, which has 302 seats. Aeroflot will only have to pay duties on the A-321 (171 seats). Customs duties are paid in several instalments over three years, so the positive impact of these measures for Aeroflot won’t be seen for another decade. However the measures will contribute to the overall growth in the Russian airline industry.

Aerogal receives new Airbus

Meanwhile Aerogal, an airline based in Ecuador, has just received a new Airbus A320-200. The aircraft is the first of three to be delivered as part of Aerogal’s fleet renewal programme. Airbus has sold more than 500 aircraft in Latin America and has a backlog of more than 200.