Fidel is buying a new airplane
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Fidel is buying a new airplane
Castro buys new presidential jet
Cuba is buying one of Russia's most up-to-date airliners, carefully crafted for President Fidel Castro's personal comfort.
The purchase is part of an initial Cuban order for two brand new Ilyushin planes worth $110 million (£63 million) which Russian officials say is a shot in the arm for their struggling airline industry.
To head off criticism that a new presidential jet is an expensive luxury in austere times, Cuba says one of its new planes is being used to ferry workers to and from Venezuela.
To finance the deal, Cuba has paid 15% of the total sum up front, the rest coming from a 10-year loan from Russian banks.
Creature comforts
Russian NTV Mir television said the designers at Ilyushin had worked hard to give Mr Castro as smooth and secure a journey as possible.
"This is a sofa bed on which he can spend his hours of rest or read a book from his own library. Everything has been designed to be as ergonomic as possible, with a personal reading lamp," designer Aleksandr Kuchukhidze told the channel.
Principal interior designer Anton Nikolayev added: "Beige colours will predominate. Business meetings and talks can be held here."
The station showed the little luxuries the president could expect: a DVD player, drinks bar and leather seats. But security is paramount too: the plane comes with armoured cockpit doors and a system for making bombs safe.
Export breakthrough
The report showed the Ilyushin Il-96-300, built in Voronezh, being handed over at Havana's Jose Marti airport. It said the order was one of the biggest the Voronezh Ilyushin plant had secured this decade.
"These are the first Russian civilian aircraft to have been exported in the last 15 years," Ilyushin finance director Aleksandr Rubtsov said.
"We are convinced that Cuba can become a springboard for exporting our planes, above all in the countries of Latin America."
Russia and Cuba plan to sign another contract in Cuba on 10 March for the supply of a further five airliners, for an undisclosed sum.
Cuba has been a key customer of Soviet-built aircraft - whether civilian Ilyushins or military MiGs - since the Cold War era.
Even today, Cuban pilots for the newest Ilyushins are being trained in Russia, and Ilyushin engineers are in to Havana to school ground crews on maintaining the planes.
BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h...as/4793048.stm
Published: 2006/03/10 13:54:29 GMT
© BBC MMVI
Cuba is buying one of Russia's most up-to-date airliners, carefully crafted for President Fidel Castro's personal comfort.
The purchase is part of an initial Cuban order for two brand new Ilyushin planes worth $110 million (£63 million) which Russian officials say is a shot in the arm for their struggling airline industry.
To head off criticism that a new presidential jet is an expensive luxury in austere times, Cuba says one of its new planes is being used to ferry workers to and from Venezuela.
To finance the deal, Cuba has paid 15% of the total sum up front, the rest coming from a 10-year loan from Russian banks.
Creature comforts
Russian NTV Mir television said the designers at Ilyushin had worked hard to give Mr Castro as smooth and secure a journey as possible.
"This is a sofa bed on which he can spend his hours of rest or read a book from his own library. Everything has been designed to be as ergonomic as possible, with a personal reading lamp," designer Aleksandr Kuchukhidze told the channel.
Principal interior designer Anton Nikolayev added: "Beige colours will predominate. Business meetings and talks can be held here."
The station showed the little luxuries the president could expect: a DVD player, drinks bar and leather seats. But security is paramount too: the plane comes with armoured cockpit doors and a system for making bombs safe.
Export breakthrough
The report showed the Ilyushin Il-96-300, built in Voronezh, being handed over at Havana's Jose Marti airport. It said the order was one of the biggest the Voronezh Ilyushin plant had secured this decade.
"These are the first Russian civilian aircraft to have been exported in the last 15 years," Ilyushin finance director Aleksandr Rubtsov said.
"We are convinced that Cuba can become a springboard for exporting our planes, above all in the countries of Latin America."
Russia and Cuba plan to sign another contract in Cuba on 10 March for the supply of a further five airliners, for an undisclosed sum.
Cuba has been a key customer of Soviet-built aircraft - whether civilian Ilyushins or military MiGs - since the Cold War era.
Even today, Cuban pilots for the newest Ilyushins are being trained in Russia, and Ilyushin engineers are in to Havana to school ground crews on maintaining the planes.
BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h...as/4793048.stm
Published: 2006/03/10 13:54:29 GMT
© BBC MMVI
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According to airliners.net, the 96-300 is the non-westernised 96T/96M (Collins avionics/PW engines). Cuba is probably one of the few countries that would want a Russian fit due to their existing equipment and American sanctions.
Everything has been designed to be as ergonomic as possible, with a personal reading lamp
bluddy luxury
the plane comes with armoured cockpit doors and a system for making bombs safe.
Beige colours will predominate
It said the order was one of the biggest the Voronezh Ilyushin plant had secured this decade
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what do y know about it?
reading those notes I see, suddently, that you are talking silly words...
>a personal reading lamp, a dvd player, leather-covered seats....
>ooh ooh ohh what a luxury!
what are those little things compared to an airplane? also, those planes are needed since long time ago and, of course, they will be used for people, not for personal affairs of anyone.
me
>a personal reading lamp, a dvd player, leather-covered seats....
>ooh ooh ohh what a luxury!
what are those little things compared to an airplane? also, those planes are needed since long time ago and, of course, they will be used for people, not for personal affairs of anyone.
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Very pretigious for the Russians. Maybe they can sell some more to othe noted statesmen like Mugabe in Zim or Kim in N. Korea. General President-for-Life Idi Amin Dada in Saudi Arabia might be in the market too. Lots of good possibilities out there.
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Originally Posted by con-pilot
Two airplanes you say.
Well, that will turn the Russian economy around.
Well, that will turn the Russian economy around.
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karelium, I see this is your first post and you say you are in Cuba.
May I ask if you are a Cuban living in Cuba?
It doesn't really matter all that much, however, if you are living in Cuba, welcome to Pprune and I for one look forward to more posting from you.
May I ask if you are a Cuban living in Cuba?
It doesn't really matter all that much, however, if you are living in Cuba, welcome to Pprune and I for one look forward to more posting from you.
