S7 Airlines takes delivery of 1st B737-800BCF

On 18 February, S7 Airlines took delivery of its first of two B737-800BCF. The aircraft, VP-BEN (33545) was ferried on this date from Ostrava to Moscow-Domodedovo and will start flying for the airline soon.

The airline is leasing the two aircraft via GECAS, which announced the deal back in December 2020. S7 Airlines plans to deploy the aircraft on domestic routes, but has also eyed Frankfurt-International as a possible destination. Its first freighter is a former Ryanair-aircraft, which took delivery of it back in December 2002. It was retired in December 2019 and returned to lessor GECAS which ferried the aircraft to Shanghai-Pudong for conversion into freighter. It arrived at Ostrava after conversion on 6 February 2021 for the final touches.

S7 Airlines currently has a fleet of 104 aircraft consisting of nine A319s, eighteen A320s, 24 A320neos, 20 B737-800s, one B737-800BCF, two B737-8s and seventeen ERJ170s. It was originally launched in 1957 as part of Aeroflot, but became independent (as Siberia Airlines) in 1992. Its main operating hubs are Moscow-Domodedovo and Novosibirsk and the airline serves approximately 150 destinations.

Photo by Radim Koblížka, via JetPhotos.net.