Boeing 747-300 | 1999

Airline - Moscavia
Aircraft - Boeing 747-300 | LN-MMT
Delivered to Vienna Airlines, 1988
Sold to British International, 1992
Sold to Atlantic Charter, 1999
Leased to Moscavia, 1999
Returned to Atlantic Charter, 2002
Leased to Kievan Airlines, 2004
Returned to Atlantic Charter, 2008
Stored at Bruntingthorpe, 2008
Sold to Vacation Air, 2010
Livery - Hybrid 1999
Country - Russia/Norway

After operating the New York route with 757s via Shannon for several years, Moscavia wet-leased three 747-300s from Atlantic Charter, a Norwegian charter and leasing specialist. The allowed the route to be flown direct, as well as the resumption of non-daily service to Miami. In the autumn of 1999, the short-term wet-lease arrangement was converted into a longer lease of the three aircraft, which from then on were operated by Moscavia's own crews. Correspondingly, the three 747s - which were initially left in a a plain blue-tailed livery - were repainted, with the tail being completely refinished, and the Atlantic Charter titles on the fuselage painted over with a modified version of Moscavia's standard titling, complete with the 'International Airlines of Moscow' slogan. With the more versatile operating capability that came with the long-term lease, the 747-300s were used - in addition to sustaining daily New York service and thrice-weekly flights to Miami - to add non-daily direct flights to Tokyo (which had previously been flown by Il-86s with stopovers). Finally, during peak holiday periods, they were used for Southeast Asian tourist flights.

The problem with Moscavia's leased 747-300s was that their hard product was not competitive, even for Russia. They were outfitted with Atlantic Charter's high-density setup, with 29 First Class recliner seats and a staggering capacity for 556 passengers in Economy (see seatmap below). At the same time, Moscavia's main competitor - Russian International Airlines - had begun flying A330-300s - with lie-flat First Class and angled Business Class - three years earlier. This meant that, without access to better aircraft for the time being, Moscavia was forced to compete on price - as a result, it established a reputation for itself as the budget alternative to Russia's flag carrier.