Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 14
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iranian airlines are interested in purchasing Russian short-haul passenger aircraft, Sukhoi Superjet 100, Secretary of Association of Iranian Airlines Maqsoud Asadi Samani said, Mehr news agency reported Dec. 14.
The plane manufacturer introduced Sukhoi Superjet 100 to Iran on Dec. 13, Samani said, adding that many Iranian airlines have positive viewpoints towards the aircraft.
After the yesterday air show which was carried out by a Superjet 100 plane in Tehran, representatives of the Russian aircraft manufacturer held talks with Iranian airlines, he said.
Samani further said that the Iranian airlines will make a decision on the issue after studying the purchase conditions and aircraft’s specifications.
Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak said on Dec. 13 that Russian Federation is willing to sell Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircrafts to Iran.
Earlier, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Moscow might deliver a big batch of Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger aircraft to Iran by 2020.
The planes can be in part localized by Iranian producers if Tehran makes a political decision to purchase ready-made aircraft, Rogozin said.
Sukhoi Superjet 100 is a 75-seat and 95-seat passenger plane being produced since 2000 commissioned for flights services by the airlines from 2008.
A total of 64 Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft are currently in service, according to Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (SCA) data. The largest aircraft operators are Aeroflot (26 airplanes), Mexico's Interjet (19) and Gazpromavia (10 jets of the long-range series).