Ural Airlines gave up on the idea of purchasing medium-distance planes and is only going to buy long-haul aircraft in the future, the company’s Director-General Sergey Skuratov told reporters in the course of the recent Russia-EU summit.

We gave up on buying those [medium-distance planes. – Editors’ note.],’ he said, explaining that the airline was initially planning on buying medium-distance ATR 42 planes. Starting 2013, we intend to buy long-haul aircraft,’ RIA Novosti quotes Skuratov as saying.

The executive said that the company was to increase its A320 fleet of vehicles up to twenty-four planes by the end of the year. Airbus planes are now the basis of the airline’s fleet: the company is currently using thirteen A320 and five A321 airplanes. Ural Airlines reported on Tuesday that it was no longer going to operate any Tu 154 M planes (the last flight would be operated on October 16, 2011).

Skuratov also announced that Ural Airlines intended to raise its passenger turnover by 36% in 2011 compared with 2010, that is, to 2.5m people.