Ural Airlines (U6, Ekaterinburg) is in talks with unspecified lessors over the proposed lease of two A321neo. Airline CEO Sergey Skuratov told Russian Aviation Insider in an interview that the 240-seater jet offers 8% more capacity than its A321ceo predecessor, a figure that holds great appeal to the operator.

"It is a natural thing for an airline to wish for more seats in its aircraft, because this means higher margins," he said. "This is economics, after all.”

Other products being looked at include the B737-800/900 from Boeing (BOE, Washington National) whose increased range over the A320, the backbone of Ural Airlines' fleet, present significant opportunities. To that end, the Ekaterinburg-based carrier is also in the market for A330s albeit modified variants sporting large emergency exits.

"These would allow for a greater seating capacity," Skuratov added. "Unfortunately, there are not so many aircraft made out in this modification going around."

Ural Airlines currently operates seven A319-100s, twenty-three А320-200s, and thirteen А321-200s on regular flights covering Russia, the CIS, Continental Europe, and the Middle and Far East.