MOSCOW, January 31, 4:35 /ITAR-TASS/. Sukhoi Civil Aircraft will replace all of Aeroflot’s Sukhoi SuperJet-100 (SSJ-100) light planes with their full versions in the first half of this year, the company said on Thursday, January 30.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft said it would also continue to deliver SSJ100s following the contract for 30 aircraft of this type between the two companies.
Up to date, Aeroflot has already acquired six “full” version SSJ100 aircraft. Under the contract, Aeroflot gives back to Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC) the aircraft in “light” specification previously operated by the airline. This aircraft is being delivered to other airlines which expressed their interest in acquiring of SSJ100 aircraft took out of Aeroflot’s service.
On January 29 and 30, 2014, the fifth and sixth Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft in “full” specification took off from Zhukovsky Airfield, where the SCAC Delivery Centre is located, to the Sheremetyevo International Airport, which is Aeroflot’s base airport. The aircraft was given RA-89023 (manufacturer No 95041) and RA-89032 (manufacturer No 95043) tail numbers.
Earlier, on December 31, 2013 Aeroflot received the fourth SSJ100 aircraft with tail number RA-89022 (manufacturer No 95039) in its enhanced configuration. The aircraft was put into commercial operation in the beginning of January 2014.
At the moment, the number of flight hours since the entry into service in Aeroflot, the largest operator of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft, has exceeded 27,000 for more than 18,000 commercial flights.
The airline operates flights aboard the Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft to various destinations in Russia, Germany, Sweden, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, and Belarus. SSJ100 is delivered to the airline in 87 seat-configuration and can cover a distance of up to 3,048 km.
Sukhoi SuperJet-100 is a regional 100-seat plane designed and made by Sukhoi Civil Aircraft in cooperation with Alenia Aermacchi. Its basic version can fly for a distance of up to 3,048 kilometres. An increased range is 4,578 kilometres. The company plans to start making a long-range version of the plane from 2013 and to offer a business version of the plane in 2015. It may be of interest to Middle East countries.
The SuperJet, the first new Russian passenger plane over the past 20 years, is being created through unprecedentedly broad international cooperation that involves more than 30 major international aerospace companies, system and component suppliers. Sukhoi SuperJet-100 integrates the world’s best industry practices and solutions.
Sukhoi SuperJet-100 integrates the world’s best industry practices and solutions. All aircraft will be certified in accordance with both Russian and international requirements. SSJ100's technical and operational performance make the product fully marketable and capable of taking a solid share in the highly competitive global market. Thus, Sukhoi expects to sell 800 aircraft until the year 2024, while the global demand for the aircraft of this class totals 5,400. So far the company had secured 73 solid orders for the aircraft.
SuperJet-100 will in the future provide the basis for a whole family of planes, including transport and special purpose planes. However now the main goal is the certification of the plane and serial production of 60-70 planes annually.
The Sukhoi SuperJet-100 family consists of two types of aircraft of basic and increased flying ranges with the carrying capacity of 75 and 95 passengers respectively.
The SuperJet-100 aircraft got in the focus of public attention after one of the planes had crashed in Indonesia in May 2012, killing 45 people, including eight Russians. The accident was blamed on the pilot’s error.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft planned to deliver 30 SSJ-100 planes in 2013, including 12 to Sky Aviation (Indonesia), 3 to Lao Central (Laos), to Interjet (Mexico) and to Yakutia (Russia). About 20 planes were delivered in 2012, including to Aeroflot.