Anton Verzhbitsky

If you combine the private jets of Russian billionaires into one company, you get a major carrier, the second in terms of the number of aircraft after Aeroflot with a fleet of more than 250 aircraft. In total, the Russians own up to 500 business jets, and most of them are registered abroad. Sanctions against Russian businessmen adopted by the US Treasury on April 6, 2018 ruined the life of billionaires and launched a wave of sales.

5. Airbus A320

Year of issue: 2008
Estimated owner: Andrey Kozitsyn
Country of registration: Austria
Assessed value: $67 000 000

The plane and its unique livery with gold patterns and a bird on the tail went to the Russian billionaire from the previous owner, the Saudi Saad Group, the bankrupt billionaire Maan al-Sanea. The aircraft was relocated from Saudi Arabia to Ekaterinburg Koltsovo Airport. The aircraft can often be seen in European cities- Verona, Vienna and Paris. Also, this Airbus often visits the cities where the Ekaterinburg hockey club "Avtomobilist" holds its games, sponsored by the UMMC (Andrey Kozitsyn is a co-owner of the company). Sometimes the hockey team itself flies to them.

https://www.site/2015-03-17/forbes_nashel_samolety_na_kotoryh_letayut_abramovich_usmanov_fridman_prohorov_i_drugih_rossiyskie_mi

Forbes found the planes that fly Abramovich, Usmanov, Fridman, Prokhorov and other Russian billionaires

Forbes analyzed what the participants in the list of the richest Russians prefer to fly on. According to the publication, most often the technique of famous people in business is very recognizable: billionaires like to stand out with the color of their vehicle or an unusual registration number.

So, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich prefers to fly Boeing 767-300ER with P4-MES number. This 11-year-old aircraft can often be seen in different parts of the world: Nice, Salzburg, Saint Martin, Tel Aviv. The rich geography is explained by the capabilities of the Boeing 767-300ER, registered on the island of Aruba. The ER prefix in the modification of this vessel means an increased flight range, which allows you to make non-stop flights over a distance of up to 11 thousand kilometers. Such an airliner can accommodate up to 245 passengers, its length is 54.9 meters, its wingspan is 47.6 meters, and the catalog value of the aircraft is $191.5 million. Among spotters (lovers of photographing aircraft), the ship received the nickname "Bandit" for the characteristic black stripe near the cockpit, reminiscent of dark glasses. A 1:500 scale model of the "Bandit" is even sold in souvenir shops.

Plane of Roman Abramovich

Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Alfa Group Mikhail Fridman often flies on his Mi-171 helicopter with the number RA-25777. A very unusual vehicle, if only for the reason that this helicopter has an interesting color and a lucky number ending in three sevens. Probably Fridman flies on this helicopter to his recreation center in the Tver region. According to the manufacturer, the maximum flight range of such a vessel is 600-800 kilometers, depending on the configuration, cruising speed is 230 kilometers per hour, and the catalog price is $10 million.

Helicopter of Mikhail Fridman

Owner of the Onexim group, co-owner of OK Rusal Mikhail Prokhorov prefers to fly a 6-year-old Airbus A319 with M-RBUS number. This big liner with dynamic coloring and callsign Silver Arrows. According to Airbus specifications, the aircraft is 33.8 meters long, has a wingspan of 35.8 meters, seats up to 156 passengers, and has a list price of $88.6 million. However, the interior of the liner, most likely, was specially redesigned for the needs of the client.

Mikhail Prokhorov's plane

Airbus A319 aircraft with M-KATE registration, which is used by a Russian businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev, a few years ago attracted the attention of journalists, primarily British. Reporters tried to figure out if the plane with such a talking registration had anything to do with Kate Middleton, wife of the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William. However, it is most likely that the A319 received such registration in honor of Rybolovlev's daughter, Katerina. The aircraft belonged to Sophar Property Holding BVI, which Uralkali acquired while still under Rybolovlev's control. After the sale of Uralkali, the entrepreneur bought Sophar's assets from Sophar.

Dmitry Rybolovlev's plane

Member of the Board of Directors of OAO NOVATEK Gennady Timchenko prefers to fly his Gulfstream G650 OH-GVV. This aircraft is capable of making a non-stop flight over a distance of 12,964 kilometers and taking on board up to 18 passengers. In August last year, the businessman complained to the press that, due to sanctions, Gulfstream could not sell him new aircraft and service those already purchased. Thus, he is forced to request charter flights when he needs to fly somewhere.

The plane of Gennady Timchenko

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tinkoff Credit Systems Bank Oleg Tinkov prefers to travel aboard a Falcon 900LX with an M-TINK registration, according to his account photos in in social networks. A recognizable feature is the coat of arms on the tail of the aircraft, the same one that Tinkoff Bank customers see on cards and official documents. According to the manufacturer, this type of aircraft has a wingspan of 21.38 meters, accommodates up to 19 passengers, can non-stop flights at a distance of up to 8 thousand 890 kilometers, for example, to fly from Moscow to Tokyo. The cost of the aircraft on the market is 20-32 million dollars, depending on the condition, modification and configuration.

Oleg Tinkov's plane

Founder and major shareholder of USM Holdings Alisher Usmanov flies a 6-year-old Airbus A340-300 number M-IABU. Usmanov's liner is the largest among all the aircraft of the participants in the rating of the richest Russians. The liner is called Bourkhan (it is believed that in honor of the father of Alisher Usmanov), and its registration can be deciphered as “I, Alisher Burkhanovich Usmanov (I, Alischer Burchanovich Usmanov). According to Airbus, the flight range of aircraft of this type is up to 13.7 thousand kilometers, the wingspan is 60.3 meters, the length is 63.69 meters, the capacity is up to 440 passengers in a single-class configuration, the catalog price in 2011 was 238 million dollars, now the plane has already been taken out of production.

Even the crisis did not force large entrepreneurs to abandon personal aircraft. Although they are expensive to maintain, flying businessmen value their comfort more than money.

Boeing 767-300 of Roman Abramovich

Roman Abramovich (center) and Eduard Rossel (right)

The billionaire will prefer to talk about the details of doing business, he may not hide the brand of his expensive car. But he will probably keep silent about a private jet. The hype in this matter is useless. The movement of the oligarchs by their own air transport is their own business. Legally, such flights are equated to a charter. Several times, entrepreneurs stuttered in front of government officials that it would be nice for them, people so significant for the country's economy, to replace the permissive procedure for using airspace notifying. But so far there is no result. So in the new rules, which will come into force on November 1, it will be allowed to use the notification procedure one hour before departure only private aviation flying no higher than 300 meters. Maybe later they will remember the billionaires. Their planes are designed for high altitudes and serious speeds.

taboo theme

The fleet of personal aircraft of Russians, in principle, is not large. Even fewer planes from the sphere business aviation. Any car can become a business jet - there would be money. But usually it is understood as a small VIP-class jet aircraft, most often foreign-made with a limited number of seats, no more than 19. According to experts of the Business Aviation Club, one of the largest domestic sellers of business and administrative aircraft, there are just over 450 real owners of business jets in Russia. So are wealthy people, according to rating of billionaires "F.", not much more. “Feel free to take the top half of the list - these persons probably own planes,” one of the magazine's interlocutors noted. - But this is an absolutely taboo topic for discussion. No one knows more or less reliable data about the owners of aircraft.

A personal plane is like a beacon. Not everyone can afford it. And big money, as you know, do not like close attention. It is no coincidence that almost all boards are not directly owned by those in whose interests they "work", but are registered to commercial structures. Wealthy Russians prefer to remain in the shadows and are in no hurry to pick up the initiative of the authorities, who allowed registration on individual which was not allowed a few years ago.

The owners of air transport are also some politicians and artists. It is believed that Philip Kirkorov there is an American Cessna Citation III. "United Russia", a member of the State Duma Committee on Labor and Social Policy Grigory Anikeev honestly indicated in the tax return owning a Falcon 2000 Ex Easy. The governor of the Kaliningrad region, Georgy Boos, also did not hide the fact that in 2009 he purchased a small jet for 9 seats. And recently, the presidential squadron also acquired foreign aircraft from the administrative Falcon category at a price of $50 million apiece. A French heavy jet class car is five times more economical in terms of direct costs for a flight of a heavy liner Il-96-300. For example, the flight of the president or prime minister from Moscow home - to St. Petersburg - will cost the treasury 80-90 thousand rubles instead of 450-460 thousand.

Both home and office

On jets, mega-level entrepreneurs who can buy several winged cars move around the country and the world - Oleg Deripaska, Mikhail Prokhorov, Viktor Vekselberg. Roman Abramovich owns not so much a jet as an aircraft that is usually used in commercial aviation - the Boeing 767-300. Such liners are in the fleets of all major airlines, including Aeroflot and Transaero. Judgments about the exact number of boards in private ownership are only approximate. For example, how many Cessnas are used in a country is known from planespotters (people whose hobbies are photographing and counting aircraft). They recorded about 40 ships of this manufacturer with different registration numbers at the airports. Of these, at least two dozen belong to unnamed private owners.

The fleet of firms involved in the organization of VIP transportation consists mainly of jets. According to various sources, there are several dozen such companies in the country. By the way, having your own board Vladimir Lisin sources do not confirm, assuring that the billionaire No. 1 uses the services of a VIP airline based in Vnukovo-3. But, as a rule, the clientele of leased aircraft is different. “Their services are used by about 4.5 thousand people - businessmen who either do not want to buy an aircraft, or do not fly often enough to have their own board,” says Sergey Morozov, president of the Business Aviation club. In any case, these are people who are ready to pay about 30-40 thousand euros for a flight to Europe. For billionaires, in this case, comfort is important, they have a certain level of requests. “If they resort to the services of such companies, then each time it will turn out to be a new, unusual aircraft with other people's flight attendants, perhaps an inconvenient layout,” the expert explains. “Your plane is a plane for yourself, like a house and an office at the same time.”

Without terrorists

The theme of increasing prestige at the expense of the aircraft as an expensive toy remained in pre-crisis times. There is a need, of course. But the majority of entrepreneurs, having played enough in status in previous years, use jets for their intended purpose - for business. According to the calculations of the Business Aviation Club, before the start of the crisis in 2008 in the Moscow zone, the number of business aviation flights reached 150–200 per day, which is comparable to regular flights over the same period.

One of the reasons wealthy people get their own planes is because of the difficult routes. “Let's say you need to visit Moscow, London, Nice, Athens and St. Petersburg in a short time,” says Sergey Morozov. “No major scheduled airline can do this.” Often, the destination can not be reached at all by an ordinary plane. According to a study conducted in 2009 by Galaxy And Mass Assembly in conjunction with the National Business Aviation Association, up to 80% of business jet flights are to airports where there is no regular schedule or it is limited to two or three flights served by small turbine vessels.

But even if we are talking about flights to centers with a developed aviation infrastructure, there are difficulties with connecting flights in different cities, a lot of time is spent on the usual pre-flight check-in, baggage screening, early arrival at the airport, usually remote from locality. A personal plane does not have to be parked at a large airfield, and it will wait for a delayed passenger for as long as necessary. Here the restriction is connected only with the rest time of the crew.

It is known that the president of Avangard Bank, Kirill Minovalov, independently pilots his Cessna. His business interests are in the malting and glass business. The entrepreneur often negotiates with partners in Europe, where he flies from Moscow in an hour (including time zones). During the day he holds several meetings in different cities or even EU countries, and in the evening he returns to Russia. A convincing example of how having an airplane allows you to effectively manage your own time. Another important reason to use a personal aircraft is absolute and controlled security, when the entrepreneur is sure that there are no terrorists on board.

The crisis is not a hindrance

“We must remember that any owner of a business jet does not fly alone, but together with managers and security,” recalls BCS analyst Sevastyan Kozitsyn. “If such a person used a scheduled or charter aircraft, he would have to buy half the cabin for his team.”

If you do not take the top of the "golden" billionaires, then Russian park of jets consists of corporate vehicles that are used primarily in the interests of legal entities, Oleg Panteleev, head of the analytical service of the Aviaport.ru agency, is sure: “When we talk about the personality of Roman Abramovich, it is clear that his Boeing is a car for one, but if we we mean pragmatic businessmen like Oleg Deripaska, he will not spend money on the maintenance of the aircraft only for his own personal needs.

For such entrepreneurs, their own board becomes an investment in improving business efficiency and communication capabilities of the company. Therefore, the oligarchs continue to buy aircraft, despite the crisis. “It is true that since 2008 there has been a drop in demand both in terms of leasing and acquiring aircraft. According to my estimate, there was a drop of more than 50%,” says Petr Koshelev, commercial director of Jet-2000, which offers management and rental services for business jets. For example, one large company selling jets reported that in 2009 it did not carry out a single deal for the sale of aircraft. Many cars were put up for sale, but no one was interested in them. Although the aircraft on the secondary market could be purchased at a discount of 20-50%. Thus, according to experts, co-owners of Sibir Energy Shalva Chigirinsky and Mirax Group Sergei Polonsky unsuccessfully tried to get rid of their own ships. On the other hand, Lev Leviev, an Israeli businessman who owns AFI Development in Russia, was successful: he sold his Bombardier Global 5000 for $46 million. The situation is similar in the primary market. According to the American jet manufacturer Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, in the second half of last year, not a single order was received from Russia, while the company usually sold up to a dozen aircraft to Russian oligarchs annually.

However, the recovery of the market for such exclusive services has already begun: the demand for the secondary market is slowly but surely increasing, followed by the primary market, experts say. If we talk about the intensity of flights on jets, according to Sergey Morozov, it has already approached the pre-crisis level: “Entrepreneurs, of course, have become more economical, but I would say - within the framework of a certain trend, because everyone around is saving, but the flight statistics of our club say about the other - they fly, as before.

Airplane piece

In this, domestic businessmen do not differ from foreign ones. The activity of business aviation flights in the EU countries also almost approached the level of 2009, calculated in Eurocontrol, only in April the intensity again decreased by 34% yoy due to the eruption of the Icelandic volcano. But the level of purchases of jets has not fully recovered. According to the Aviation Manufacturers Association general purpose(GAMA), in the 1st quarter of 2010, world deliveries of this type of vessels amounted to 164 units, which is 14.1% lower than in the same period last year. True, the foreign market is much more saturated with jets than the Russian market - about 13 thousand private jets are registered in the USA alone. Of course, not all of them belong to residents: due to liberal legislation, the ships of many foreigners are registered in the States, including a significant part of the 450 aircraft owned by Russians.

Ranking of business jet owners

Place	A person	Status	State assessment, $ billion	Aircraft brand	Primary market price, $ mln*
	Roman Abramovich	Millhouse Capital owner , Chairman of the Duma of Chukotka	17,00	Boeing 767-300
	Suleiman Kerimov	Owner of Nafta Moskva , member of the Federation Council	14,50	Boeing 737-7BJ/W BBJ	50–52
				Gulfstream G-V
	David Yakobashvili	Co-owner of Wimm-Bill-Dann	0,53	Gulfstream G550
				Bombardier Challenger 604	26–28
	Mikhail Prokhorov	President of Onexim Group	17,85	Gulfstream GV-SP
				Falcon 900 EX	28–30
	Shalva Chigirinsky	Ex-co-owner of Sibir Energy	0,17	Gulfstream G550
	Rustam Tariko	Chairman of the board of directors and owner Bank "Russian Standard"	1,60	Boeing 737-7BJ/W BBJ	50–52
	Andrey Skoch	Co-owner of Metalloinvest, State Duma deputy	2,45	Airbus A319-115CJ
	Mikhail Fridman	The main owner and chairman of the supervisory board of Alfa Group	14,30	Bombardier Global Express
	Oleg Deripaska	CEO and owner of "Basic Element"	13,80	Gulfstream GV-SP
	Sergei Pugachev	Owner of the United Industrial Corporation, member of the Federation Council	2,40	Falcon 2000 Ex Easy
				Gulfstream IIB
	Grigory Anikeev	Member of the State Duma from United Russia	n.a.	Falcon 2000 Ex Easy
	Vagit Alekperov	President and co-owner of Lukoil	10,65	Falcon 900EX	28–30
				Yak-142 (remake of Yak-42)	2–2,5
	Alexey Mordashov	CEO and main owner Severstal	10,00	Bombardier Challenger 604	26–28
	Vladimir Potanin	President of Interros	9,95	gulfstream	25–33
	Vladimir Bogdanov	CEO of Surgutneftegaz	0,12	Gulfstream IV-SP	25–31
	Vladimir Evtushenkov	Chairman of the Board of Directors and main owner of AFK Sistema	6,50	Embraer-135BJ Legacy	23–25
	Igor Makarov	Major shareholder of Itera	19,70	Embraer-135BJ Legacy	23–25
	Victor Vekselberg	Chairman of the Supervisory Committee and the main owner of Renova	8,35	Bombardier BD-700 Global Express	22–24
	Kirill Minovalov	President and owner of Avangard Bank	0,56	Cessna 750 Citation X
	Igor Vozyakov	Collector and philanthropist (former top manager of Transneft)	n.a.	Learjet 60	19–20

Despite the financial difficulties, businessmen in no country are ready to give up the use of personal aircraft. Hundreds of thousands of wealthy, but impoverished foreigners are moving around the world on business flights. Therefore, even more actively than before, a form of joint ownership of a ship is developing abroad. This is the so-called "partial ownership", not "private": the customer pays part of the cost of the aircraft and receives priority and cheaper freight for this for a certain period of time. “This option is close to the fractional ownership scheme, when a person buys not an aircraft, but a certain number of flight hours on it, which allows him to optimize his own expenses,” says Oleg Panteleev. For example, in Europe fractional ownership is about 10% of the private aviation market. Naturally, such a co-owner does not fully bear the cost of maintaining the car, which can reach 3-5% per month of the cost of the car. In Russia, pooling aircraft purchases is not very popular - there are still many who are able to buy an entire aircraft.