Article from BTNews 4 JUNE 2018
SSJ100 upgrade plan
Development of a second variant of the Sukhoi Superjet 100, also known as the SSJ100, is being considered after the programme won more money from the Russian government.
Sukhoi says part of the RUB6bn (about £72m) injection will be used to increase sales of the twin-engine fly-by-wire regional aircraft and “jump-start” development of a 75-seat version. It is currently available only in a 95-seat configuration.
Two-thirds of the subsidy, RUB4bn, will be used to create a turnaround pool of spare parts, specified to be equipped with at least 700 items, as well as introducing service bulletins, as a way of decreasing dependence on overseas suppliers.
Sukhoi has hopes of selling the SSJ100, 159 of which had been built as of 30 April this year, to Iran’s airlines, taking advantage of the confusion over the Iran-US nuclear deal following President Trump’s pullout.
When the agreement was signed in summer 2015, Iran’s aviation companies hoped to upgrade their aging fleets, with IranAir ordering 100 aircraft, worth £39bn, from Airbus and 80, worth $19bn, from Boeing.
However, IranAir has so far received only three Airbus aircraft and some turboprops built by the manufacturer’s Franco-Italian affiliate, ATR. Boeing has not yet made any deliveries to Iran.
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