Sukhoi's SSJ100 Flirts With Chinese Clients At Zhuhai Airshow 2008, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft - «Гражданские самолеты Сухого»
Release Date: 2008-11-28
“Zhuhai 2008 was a great opportunity to meet customers, it was the right place for the right project at the right time,” Svetlana Issaeva, Vice-President of Sales, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, told www.RussianAvia.net during a phone interview on the 25th of November in Moscow, just upon return from the most important aviation trade fair in Asia.
It was the second time the team of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft participated in the AirShow China, taking place in early November in the city of Zhuhai. But this time, according to Issaeva, it was a more productive and positive visit. Not only there were more participants in the trade fair, but also the Sukhoi Superjet 100 Project had so much more to offer this time round. “The project, Svetlana Issaeva said, is far more advanced now and also there is more awareness of it than before. It has attracted a lot of attention as well because of the new strategic partnership with Alenia Aeronautica which will soon acquire 25 plus 1 per cent of shares in SCAC,” she explained. Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica company, and Sukhoi Holding have established a SuperJet International joint venture for sales at western markets and worldwide after sales support. Other participants raising the international profile of the SSJ100, the first regional jet developed in post-Soviet Russia, are Boeing, who has acted as a consultant from the projects’ inception, and risk-sharing partner Snecma, who together with Russian NPO Saturn is responsible for the SaM146 engine.
Sukhoi Superjet 100 is a family of regional aircraft comprised of 78- and 98-seaters in basic and long-range configuration. Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC) expects to sell 1040 aircraft until the year 2027, while the global demand for the aircraft of this class totals 6,100. Issaeva’s job is to find those clients in Asia. “I have held talks with a long list of airlines that showed interest in the program in Zhuhai. I can’t disclose their names as yet, but I can tell you that they were from all over South East Asia, mainly from China and India”, she said. “I think there are good prospects as it is a growing market with an increasing demand for planes of this type from airlines. There are big opportunities in both China and India for the SSJ100”, she confidently retorted.
Russian-made versus Made in China?
The inevitable question is whether this is just wishful thinking as the Chinese themselves are developing their own regional plane: the ARJ21. The project, independently designed by Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is geared towards China's domestic market, taking into account Chinese climatic and logistic aviation parameters. Svetlana Issaeva does not doubt one minute: “There is room for both as it is such a big market and growing, not to mention that there is a great need for replacement of old jets. But also, both projects are quite different,” she argues. For her, the SSJ100 is quite an open concept which can be adapted to many different scenarios, while the specifications of the Chinese product are purely focused on the Chinese regional market.
The SSJ100 aircraft, currently undergoing an extensive certification phase, will be delivered to the first client at the end of 2009. There is no doubt, the world will be looking closely at the plane’s first operational experience, to try and discern whether Russia’s pride, the SSJ100, will have a secured place in the Asian skies.
SOURCE: www.RussianAvia.net
| Type: | NORMAL |
| Company: | Sukhoi Civil Aircraft - «Гражданские самолеты Сухого» |
| Country: | Russian Federation |