KOMSOMOLSK ON AMUR, August 16, /ITAR-TASS/. Western sanctions against Russia will have no direct impact on the production of Sukhoi SuperJet-100 passenger planes, United Aircraft Corporation President Mikhail Pogosyan said on Saturday.

The company is planning to increase their production at the Komsomolsk on Amur Aircraft Plant in the Far East, he said.

“I can’t say that they [the sanctions] will have no impact on aircraft making at all. There will certainly be some difficulties due to borrowing restrictions on foreign markets. But this is an indirect, not direct, impact,” Pogosyan said.

“We cooperate broadly with many countries on the Sukhoi SuperJet-100 and this is long-term cooperation. We have no reason to expect any disruptions or refusals from our partners,” he said.

Up to date, the Komsomolsk on Amur Aircraft Plant has made 23 Sukhoi SuperJet-100 (SSJ100) planes year. Their production will increase to 40 this year and to 50 next year.

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (SCA), the designer of the plane, supplies the jet liner to several countries in and outside the former Soviet Union. In July, it signed an agreement for the supply of seven SSJ100s to the Kazakh airline BEK AIR.

“Extended-range Sukhoi Superjet 100 planes will be supplied in a one-class version for 103 seats: three planes in 2015 and four in 2016,” the press service said.

Several planes have been sold to Mexico. Sukhoi hopes to sell 800 aircraft until the year 2024 and estimates the global demand for the aircraft of this class at 5,400 planes.

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.