French airline orders to underpin outlook for Superjet 100
Published: 19 May, 2009, 10:06
TAGS: Investment, Manufacturing, Russia and the global economy, Finance
Russia's Trade Minister, Viktor Khristenko has told RT a French airline will become the Superjet 100's next buyer. The news comes in turbulent times for the Sukhoi project.
Reports claim Superjet will drop output for the next four years from 230 to just 74 units. Chief client, Aeroflot, is reviewing purchase contracts, after a 21% crash in First Quarter travel. Sukhoi head Mikhail Pogosyan warns without more state money the project won't pull through. A worried government, through Industry and Trade Minister Viktor Khristenko, guaranteed enough funds to save planned production, and revealed vital new orders.
“The Superjet is a priority project for the government, and we won't cut its budget by a single kopek.
We are slightly moving back the timeframe, but will still produce 1,000 Superjets as planned. A French airline will be its next customer.”
With half the project led by foreign firms, like Snecma of France and Italy's Finmeccanica, problems for the S100 are problems for the EU. But Gunter Verheugen, European Commisioner for Enterprise and Industry is putting a brave face on the situation.
“The crisis will be sooner or later over and then you can expect that you will see strong demand for new aircraft, in particular in the sector Superjet is established, so I'm not too concerned.”
The plane will hope to recover some glory at next month's Le Bourget. It will announce fresh orders, and the director of Europe's largest airshow says Superjet will be the star performer.
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19.05.2009, 15:05
Industrial Output down 14.9% January to AprilRussian industrial output was down 14.9% year on year between January and April according to Russia’s Federal State Statistics Service. |
On the face of it, this looks an excellent project for the Russian government to support whole heartedly. The basis of this plane, is on sound worldwide and domestic marketing, and the suppliers have been chosen, to offer an aircraft meeting exacting standards in terms of safety, operational costs, noise and SFC. We do need to improve our domestic airline fleet, and this aircraft offers a competitive solution on many routes, this was shown by the initial options placed by Aeroflot. Our government should move, to help secure a financial package to enable Aeroflot to follow through, on the bulk of its options. It would be an investement in Russian industry, in the safety of our citizens and also support ecologically a beter environment for all. Additionally because the marketing has been done correctly, and competent international suppliers selected, it also offers us the opportunity to develop a credible aircraft offering to the world at large. This is a solid opportunity for us, to get a stable foothold in the international airline market. A country as big as ours, needs to be a player in these markets, because our critical mass, overcomes the huge barrier to entry in terms of certification costs. Not every country can be a player here. Our government needs get behind this project, in bigger terms than just keeping the assembly lines running. They need to be an active partner in terms of financial muscle and promotion. It is a great opportunity in both technology and global business for us. Let's support it! I would love to fly on this aircraft on domestic and european routes.