Russian regional carrier Yamal Airlines will cancel a planned purchase of 10 Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft, a day after one of the commuter jets operated by Aeroflot fatally crash-landed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
Yamal announced its decision on Monday, after Russia’s transport minister declined to ground the aircraft in response to the accident.
Yamal’s decision to drop the plane is said to be unconnected to Sunday’s accident. General Director Vasily Kryuk told Russian news agency TASS that servicing costs on the narrow-body Superjet 100 are too high.
A Superjet 100 belonging to Aeroflot crash-landed in a blaze of fire and smoke at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport on Sunday. The plane had departed Sheremetyevo for Murmansk, but pilots declared an emergency on board and returned to Moscow, with the plane bursting into flames upon a hard landing. A total of 40 passengers and one crew member died in the tragedy.
Yamal operates 15 of the planes, and is Russia’s second-largest Superjet 100 operator after national flag carrier Aeroflot.
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