Russia's flagship airline Aeroflot will buy eight Boeing 777 long-haul airliners under a firm contract signed between the two companies on Tuesday at the Le Bourget Air Show outside the French capital.
Aeroflot said in March it would buy eight Boeing 777s for $1.156 billion, with a considerable discount to their catalog price of $2.168 billion. Under the deal, U.S. aerospace giant Boeing planned to supply Aeroflot with two Boeing 777-200ERs and six Boeing 777-300ERs from the fourth quarter of 2012 to the second quarter of 2016.
Aeroflot General Director Vitaly Savelyev said in April that these planes would strengthen the company's strategic opportunities for developing its route network, including international routes, which Aeroflot expects to serve with the partners in SkyTeam alliance during the Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014 and FIFA World Cup 2018.
Boeing 777s can carry from 300 to 400 passengers over 14,000 kilometers.
Aeroflot's fleet includes 11 Boeing 767 long-haul wide-body planes and 10 Airbus A330s.
Aeroflot also intends to review its cooperation with the European aircraft-building company Airbus, which has breached the terms of the supply of airliners to the Russian airline, a source in Aeroflot said.
Airbus is to supply Aeroflot with nine or ten A330s and three A321s.
