VENICE, May 24. /TASS/. Potential expansion of sales of Russian-made SSJ-100 jets to Egypt’s EgyptAir will depend on when air service between Russia and Egypt is resumed, Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said on Tuesday.

"Naturally, our partners want to buy up to 40 planes but it will depend of when it is decided to resume air service with Russia," he said during the ceremony handing over the first SSJ-100 plane to Ireland’s City Jet airline. "They are oriented in the first hand on serving tourists from Russia, from various Russian cities. But we will have to wait for some time until Russia’s aviation authorities take a decision to resume fights to Egyptian destinations."

According to February reports, Russia’s ministry of industry and trade was in talks with Egypt’s air carries Egypt Air on sales of up to 40 SSj-100 planes. Earlier, Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation planned to lease out 12 SSJ-100 planes to EgyptAir under a trade-in scheme and grant options over 12 planes. The sides negotiated a trade-in of 15 Embraer-170 jets.

An A321 passenger jet of Russia’s Kogalymavia air carrier (flight 9268) bound to St. Petersburg crashed on October 31 some 30 minutes after the takeoff from Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh. It fell down 100 kilometers south of the administrative center of North Sinai Governorate, the city of Al-Arish. The plane was carrying 217 passengers and seven crew members. There were four Ukrainian and one Belarusian nationals among the passengers. None survived.

It was the biggest air crash in the history of Russia’s aviation. It was announced on November 17 that the crash had been caused by an act of terror committed by means of a home-made explosive devise with a yield of up to one kilogram of TNT. Following the crash, Russia suspended air service with Egypt.