Aircraft

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (SCA) has made an official announcement about postponing first delivery of its Superjet 100 regional aircraft until the second half of next year.

Speaking to the Russian media, a spokesperson for the company admits that supplies to the launch customer Aeroflot could not begin sooner than next July.

“We hope to complete the Superjet 100 flight trials in the first half of 2009 and plan to deliver its first example shortly afterwards,” she says.

But some sources close to the events believe that it is more realistic to expect the type certification programme to complete in the third quarter of 2009. This would lead to an almost one-year delay in the delivery schedule originally agreed with Aeroflot.

First flight of the Superjet took place – originally scheduled for the end of 2007 – took place in May.

Meanwhile, Superjet International, a joint venture between Sukhoi Civil Aircraft and its risk-sharing partner Alenia Aeronautica, is pursuing a focused marketing campaign for the type ahead of this month’s Farnborough air show. One source tells Flight affiliate ATI: “There could be sales announcements that will come as a surprise.”

Source: flightglobal.com's sister premium news site Air Transport Intelligence news

• PICTURES: SSJ performs high speed ground runs
• SSJ takes to the air