Undershoot

Sukhoi Superjet 100 market launch postponed

Russia's much-touted Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional jet, designed by Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (SCAC), may hit the market later than planned. President of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) Alexey Fedorov told reporters about this yesterday. “The aircraft delivery deadlines are very tight, I do not exclude that they may be shifted,” he said, adding that this will depend on the pace of certification tests of the new aircraft.

The first copy of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft (also known by the abbreviated name SSJ) was solemnly presented to First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov at the end of September last year in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. By that time, the project was moving slightly behind the previously planned deadlines. According to initial plans, the car was supposed to make its first flight that month. Then this event was postponed to December 2007, then to January 2008, but has not yet taken place. Mr. Fedorov noted yesterday that “the postponement was caused by a problem with the component equipment for the aircraft.” The first flight of the SSJ, in his opinion, should now be expected in April. But the UAC president is not sure about the timing of completion of certification tests and admits that they may delay the start of commercial deliveries of the aircraft to customers.

According to the contracts, the first SSJ should be received at the end of 2008 by Aeroflot, which ordered 30 cars. In addition, firm orders for SSJs were placed by the Financial Leasing Company (10 aircraft), the AirUnion aviation alliance (15), the Dalavia airline (6), as well as the Italian company ItAli (10) and the Armenian Armavia (2). Mr. Fedorov expressed the hope that the deviation of the project from the schedule will not be so large as to provoke financial sanctions from clients.

In turn, GSS press secretary Olga Kayukova made an official statement yesterday in which the expected dates for the first flight of the SSJ are no longer specified. “We are working under a very tight schedule in order to maximally meet our obligations to the launch customer within the framework provided by the contract,” she told Vremya Novostei. -- In addition to the work on preparing the first Sukhoi Superjet 100, the second and third flying aircraft are at the final stage of assembly. The fourth aircraft is undergoing modular assembly. This will allow us to quickly introduce all four flight models into the certification program.”

Over the past few years, regular disruptions and revisions to design schedules for new aircraft have become the scourge of first the European concern Airbus, and then its main global competitor, the American Boeing . Clearly, SSJ is following in the footsteps of its foreign counterparts.

Mikhail KUKUSHKIN