A340-600 | 2004-2006

(TOP)

Airline - Russian International Airlines
Aircraft - Airbus A340-600 | VQ-BBH
Delivered to VEB Leasing, 2004
Leased to Russian International Airlines, 2004
Stored at Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport, 2014
Returned to VEB Leasing, 2014
Sold to BLTB Aviation Capital, 2014
Stored at Victorville, 2014
Scrapped at Victorville, 2016
Livery - Standard 2002
Country - Russia

(BOTTOM)
Airline - Russian International Airlines
Aircraft - Airbus A330-300 | VQ-BDT
Delivered to VEB Leasing, 1996
Leased to Russian International Airlines, 1993
Returned to VEB Leasing, 2018
Leased to Almaz, 2018
Livery - Standard 2002
Country - Russia

Russian International Airlines' new livery was introduced in 2002, brought about by Vladimir Putin's (the new Russian President's) idea that the flag carrier's brand identity and public image should be modernized to fit the newly strengthened Russia, recovering from the economic turmoil of the 1990s. After some deliberation, it was determined that a domestic design agency should create the new brand - advice from leadership within the airline, who said that contracting a major Western design agency would be better, was ignored. Eventually, the new livery was introduced, basically consisting of a huge Russian flag. President Putin also insisted that the government had to have full control, increasing its stake in the airline to 100%. Additionally, the goal of the airline became to open up Russia for business, so it began to ramp up competition with Moscavia on key business routes, increasing frequency and ordering A340-600s to add capacity on flights to the US and East Asia. Additionally, steps were taken to improve RIA's global connectivity, and as a result the airline joined Premier Alliance in 2005.

Shown here is VQ-BBH, the first A340 to be delivered to the airline, wearing the 2002 livery and Premier Alliance stickers as added in 2005. VQ-BBH took over the name of Russian poet Alexander Pushkin - this name had previously been borne by the airline's first 767-200ER, which itself had left the fleet in 1998. It was decided to abolish First Class on Russian International Airlines planes, focusing instead on Business travelers, and as a result RIA's A340s were configured with fifty fully-flat Business Class seats in a 2-2-2 setup, and 310 Economy Class seats in a 2-4-2 layout. All seats featured in-seat IFE, with six video channels in Economy and twelve in Business. While originally twelve A340-600s were ordered, by the time the first 8 had been delivered it was clear that more fuel-efficient and cheaper to operate alternatives could be found, and the rest of the order was deferred for some time, eventually being converted into six additional A330-300s.

Additionally, a RIA A330 is also shown here, wearing the new livery and Premier Alliance stickers. The A330s were also reconfigured with new cabin configurations to match the new A340s, and could seat 306 passengers in Economy and 36 in Business. With only four Economy passengers less than the A340-600, really the only difference between the two was their Business Class capacity, and as such the A330s served routes with less premium demand.