Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov attends Sukhoi Superjet 100 presentation in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, September 26, 2007.
Photo: Valery Levitin
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Sukhoi Superjet 100 Not to Take Off in 2007
The flying tests of Sukhoi Superjet have been shelved till 2008, Vedomosti reported, refuting September promise of First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov that the jet would be awing till this year-end.
The shifts in Sukhoi program are within “the industrial norm,” Sukhoi Civil Aircraft representative Olga Kayukova explained without specifying when the Superjet will make its first flight. The sources say it will probably happen either in February or in the spring of 2008.
No reasons of the delay have been given officially, but Vedomosti blames it on two-month delay in the flying tests of SaM146 engine. Aeroflot will be the first airline that receives Superjet. The deliveries are due to begin in November of 2008.
Regional Sukhoi Superjet is being developed jointly with a few foreign partners, including Italian Alenia Aeronautica and U.S. Boeing. According to March of 2007 reports, Sukhoi intends to produce roughly 1,800 civil jets, and the better part of them will be exported. In Russia, the Superjet, which layout provides for 100 seats, is expected to replace the obsolete Tu-134.
www.kommersant.com
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