The AN−148 of Rossiya airlines carried the millionth passenger

Rossiya airlines JSC carried the millionth passenger on the AN−148. It was Mrs. Elena Koroleva, inhabitant of Saint−Petersburg, who flew from Saint−Petersburg to Kaliningrad. She was awarded with certificate for free flight on any route of the airlines and other gifts.

According to the aircraft operator, the reached result as for the quantity of passengers means, that the AN−148 has passed an initial stage of commercial operation.

Rossiya is the launch operator of the AN−148 regional jets in Russia. At present, the airlines’ fleet includes six of such airplanes. First of them performed its first commercial flight in December 2009. Till present, flight duration of these airplanes exceeded 37,000 hours. Monthly flight time of one of the AN−148s of Rossiya Airlines exceeded 400 hours, average for the fleet was about 320 hours per airplane.

Nowadays, eleven AN−148s are in operation. Three of them fly in Ukraine International Airlines and two ones – in the fleet of Polyot airlines (Russia). The AN−148s mastered more than 60 domestic routes of Ukraine and Russia as well as international air ways. They perform flights to 65 cities in 37 countries of the world.

During the period of the aircraft entrance into operation, ANTONOV works in close cooperation with the airlines. In response to customer demand, ANTONOV completed development of six of Rossiya’s AN−148s, within the period from February to April 2012, to improve their operational characteristics. In particular, several systems of the aircraft were reprogrammed.

At present, the Customer Support Information Centre works 24 hours a day at ANTONOV Company. It functions as “a single window” to reply to queries within the minimum time. In addition, ANTONOV has established a full−function service center to provide all−round support to operators of new ANs.

The Flight Crew Training Centre at Antonov has trained more than 200 pilots on the AN−148 using a complex D level simulator, developed and built by ANTONOV specialists. It is the first simulator of such sophistication in the post−Soviet area. Using this simulator, a pilot can fully imitate flight situations including failures in all systems. This simulator provides the highest level of flight crew training and, accordingly, of flight safety.

The AN−148 are serially produced at ANTONOV Serial Plant and Voronezh Aircraft Building JSC in wide international cooperation. At present, the partners on the program work out the measures to reduce the AN−148 prime cost and to increase the aircraft serial production.

Following customers’ demands and studying their requirements, ANTONOV is designing new airplanes of the family. One of them is the 89−seat AN−148−200. The AN−148−300 high comfort aircraft will be able to carry VIP passengers over a distance up to 7,000 km. The 99−seat AN−158 has been certified and is now ready to enter service. Advantages of these airplanes include: the most spacious, comfortable passenger compartment and the roomiest baggage sections and over−head lockers among the aircraft of its class; flexibility in realization of different layouts and interiors, operation at a wide range of airfields, including those with unpaved runways. Transport and special−purpose variants of the aircraft are being developed as well.

ANTONOV Company press service,