Russian Billionaire Threatens To Cancel Billion Dollar Plane Order
You don't get to be a billionaire without playing a little hardball. We've covered Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev before for his interest in publishing but Lebedev also owns the airline Blue Wings. This week Germany revoked his company's operating license meaning that the budget carrier can no longer transport passengers in Germany. Lebedev's response was quick and brutal. As Bloomberg reports, he has said he will have to cancel $1 billion order for Airbus SAS planes. German's aviation officials stated that Blue Wings has "business problems." Lebedev has said he will appeal the decision. Currently Blue Wings has 10 Airbus A320s that fly between Germany and Russia with additional charter flights to Turkey and the Middle East. The Airbus order would have added 20 more A320s to the fleet allowing Blue Wings to increase its routes. Certainly Airbus can't be thrilled about the prospect of losing such a large order so it's a shrewd move on Lebedev's part to potentially pressure Germany to reconsider.
Meanwhile, the Guardian reveals that speculation about that state of Lebedev's finances continues. He has said he will sue Forbes for saying that he had lost $2.5 billion in the economic crisis.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
colin Apr 5th 2009 6:31PM
if his airline has problems....who gives a damn how much money he has....an unsafe airline isnt worth allowing to operate no matter how much it may cost a airplane maker.
DR.VEGAS Apr 5th 2009 7:51PM
AGREED.
just me Apr 6th 2009 11:07AM
I would like to see him or someone else try to sue Forbes for misrepresentation--it would be a very interesting lawsuit.