On July 18, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with Aeroflot director general Vitaly Savelyev. Mr Savelyev reported to the prime minister that Aeroflot was rated the best Eastern European airline at the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport.
"Are you improving consumer services?" the prime minister said, interrupting Mr Savelyev.
Mr Savelyev said that in an independent survey conducted by an international company, Aeroflot scored twice as high as Lufthansa and British Airways in terms of service. "We have held first place in Europe in terms of consumer service quality for the third consecutive year," Mr Savelyev said. "Our food was rated fourth in the world in terms of quality."
"Who prepares the food?" Mr Putin asked him.
Mr Savelyev said the food is prepared by a catering company that Aeroflot co-owns with its German partners. Everyone takes part in testing the food, including regular customers, the press and Aeroflot's board members.
"You're probably served the tastier food," Mr Putin joked.
"Ironically I'm the only one who tests economy-class food because everyone prefers the business-class dishes," Mr Savelyev replied.
"And what can you say about the renovation of the air fleet?" Mr Putin asked.
"We have received our first Sukhoi Super Jet 100, which currently operates two routes, to St Petersburg and Ufa, and we will be flying to Sochi and Nizhny Novgorod, as well as abroad, in the near future," Mr Savelyev reported. "This is a truly good innovation that we have long awaited. We are happy that Russian planes are in no way inferior to their foreign counterparts...we operate the newest air fleet in Europe. All our Airbuses A-320 are less than five years old. We operate ten Boeing B-767 aircraft that are more than ten years old. We will gradually decommission them. We also operate six Russian-made Ilyushin Il-96 airliners, which are more than 15 years old. But they are in good condition. We have signed contracts for the delivery of eight B-777 "Triple Seven" airliners, the most dependable planes in their class, at Le Bourget. We also have signed a contract for the delivery of 30 Sukhoi Super Jet 100 airliners."
"Good," the prime minister said.
Larisa Kaftan