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Cablegate: 11/1 Deadline Hits: Aeroflot Looses 787 Slots, But

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OO RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHMO #2190 3051558
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 011558Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4778
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS MOSCOW 012190

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EB AND EUR/RUS
STATE PLS PASS USTR FOR DONNELLY, ERRION, DWOSKIN
USDOC FOR 4321/ITA/MAC/EUR/RISA EDWARDS AND RUDD
USDOC FOR 3004/CS/ADVOCACY/BLOOM
NSC FOR GRAHAM AND MCKIBBEN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON PREL EAIR USTR RS
SUBJECT: 11/1 DEADLINE HITS: AEROFLOT LOOSES 787 SLOTS, BUT
NOT THE DEAL

1. (SBU) As of today, November 1, Boeing has pushed back the
potential delivery schedule for Aeroflot's proposed purchase
of 22 787 Dreamliners from 2009-2011 to 2011-2013. By today,
Aeroflot was to have either secured Board approval for the
acquisition or have signed an intermediate lease for six of
the 22 planes (a move that would not have required Board
approval). Boeing has left a modified delivery schedule on
the table until December 1: roughly 12 planes in 2011 and the
remainder in 2012-2013 timeframe. After that, it appears
that Aeroflot would have to renegotiate their deal. (Note:
current demand for 787s suggests that Aeroflot might have to
wait until 2014.)

2. (SBU) November 1 is also the expiration date of the
extension option Alexander Lebedev's National Reserve
Corporation purchased on September 15. While we have heard
suggestions as recently as Monday that Lebedev is looking to
intervene again to hold on to the earlier delivery slots, we
sense that Boeing may no longer be open to this option.
3. (SBU) Comment. The terms of this deal are clearly
shifting in front of Aeroflot's eyes, but the deal itself is
still there for the taking. Understanding that Aeroflot has
essentially no place to turn but Boeing to meet its wide-body
long-haul needs in the medium term, this game is far from
over. In many ways, the stars seem to be realigning
favorably -- the Federal Property Agency has given the deal
its blessing; Airbus continues to stumble badly; and the
demand for newer, safer, aircraft is not going away any time
soon. It may be that the longest campaign in the history of
Boeing will soon come to close. End Comment.
BURNS

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