MOSCOW, April 28. /ITAR-TASS/. Bahrain has no plans to buy Russia’s SuperJet-100 passenger liner (SSJ-100), Transport Minister Kamal bin Ahmed said on Monday, April 28.
In 2013, at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, the SSJ-100 maker, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, and the Bahrain leasing company AeroLease signed a letter of intent to finance and/or lease current or future SSJ-100 acquisitions.
AeroLease CEO Masood al-Bastaki told reporters back then that the company was planning to buy 4-5 planes at the initial stage to test the market. Sukhoi Civil Aircraft hoped to sign a firm contract before the end of 2013, however no further information on cooperation between the two companies followed.
In January 2013, Bahrain Air showed interest in the Russian plane. Its executive director said back then that the company was considering buying 3-5 planes but was choosing between Sukhoi SuperJet-100 and Bombardier.
He said the company would make up its mind by the end of the first quarter of 2012. However, Bahrain Air was liquidated in February 2013.
Bombardier has an impressive share of the Middle East market. Regional companies use more than 200 Bombardier planes and the company says it will supply up to 1,000 aircraft in the next twenty years.
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.
Sukhoi hopes to sell 800 aircraft until the year 2024, while the global demand for the aircraft of this class totals 5,400.
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.