OREANDA-NEWS. Gazpromneft-Aero, operator of the Gazprom Neft aviation refuelling business, has retained its leading position on the Russian market in terms of Q1 2017 direct sales, with the company making “wing-tip” deliveries of more than 460,000 tonnes, up three percent year-on-year. Gazpromneft-Aero’s total sales of aviation fuels in this period were in excess of 700,000 tonnes.

Gazpromneft-Aero has the largest directly-owned sales network of all of Russia’s aviation refuelling companies, comprising 46 aviation refuelling complexes throughout Russia and the Kyrgyz Republic, working with more than 150 Russian and international aviation companies.

Gazpromneft-Aero delivered more than 50,00 tonnes of aviation fuel in Q1 2017, a three-fold increase on Q1 2016. The network of airports at which the company has a presence increased from 178 to 182, throughout more than 60 countries. The company was also the first to begin aircraft refuelling in Sharjah (UAE), Suratthani (Thailand), Changsha (China), and Cayo Coco (Cuba), through its development of partnerships with leading aviation fuel suppliers in local markets.

Vladimir Yegorov, CEO, Gazpromneft-Aero, commented: “We have been seeing an incremental recovery in the Russia aviation market in early 2017. Data from the Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsia, shows passenger traffic up 19 percent in Q1 2017, with aviation fuel sales up four percent at Russian airports. Gazpromneft-Aero has invested more than RUB400 million in modernising our own refuelling facilities and implementing an industrial and commercial automation programme. We remain committed to actively implementing international standards in aviation refuelling, together with new technologies, allowing us to further strengthen our position in Russia and abroad.”