A facilities manager and a test-pilot of Airbus, a globally recognized aircraft constructing corporation, visited the premises of Ural Airlines in Yekaterinburg in mid-March, reports the company’s press officer.

The French experts say they aim to build up cooperation ties with their Ural partners as well as make sure Airbus planes are used effectively and safely. Actually, large foreign companies normally choose to sign leasing agreements only with well-reputed Russian carriers and keep controlling their use of aircraft throughout the whole period. This time, Airbus executives tested the company’s pilots whose responsibilities include driving foreign planes and looked at the performance of foreign aircraft maintenance division, the press officer says.

‘Airbus 320 is a universally known type of plane. As regards Russia, Aeroflot, the market giant, has been using them for quite a while. Our French partners say they were able to strike a chord with most of our departments, notwithstanding the language differences since most of our employees are quite fluent in English. The Airbus representatives will now process the data they’ve obtained and provide us with recommendations for more effective aircraft use. They are leaving for France on March 22, 2007,’ observes the press officer.