SPECIAL LIVERY - ROSSIYA AIRLINES / Sukhoi Superjet 100-95B / RA-89025 - New special livery dedicated to Dmitri Mendeleev - Russian chemist known as a father of the Periodic table of elements.

Moscow Sheremetyevo - UUEE, Russia
Photo:  BizavMen

 

Russian-made planes will be renamed ‘Yakovlev’

Russian-made commercial aircraft, such as the Superjet SJ-100 regional jet and the single-aisle MC-21 medium-sized airliner, could soon receive a new brand.

 

SPECIAL COLOR - Azimuth Airlines / RA-89121 / Sukhoi Superjet 100-95B - "Letucci Korabl" promo livery!!

Photo: Andrey Litvinov

ROUTES - AZIMUTH ADDS MINERALNYE VODY – MINSK 1Q24 LAUNCH

Russian carrier Azimuth in the first quarter of 2024 plans to add new route to Belavia, where it operates Mineralnye Vody – Minsk route. From 13JAN24, Sukhoi SuperJet SSJ100 aircraft to operate this route once weekly.
A46001 MRV0810 – 1210MSQ SU9 6

A46002 MSQ1320 – 1720MRV SU9 6

Photo: Ton Jochems

 

Red Wings (Russia) has upgraded most of its SSJ100 to the Long Range version, increasing the aircraft’s flight range from 3,000 km to about 4,500 km

Ton Jochems - AYT 

AZIMUHT AIRLINES / SSJ 100-95B / RA-89136 - M1-GLOBAL

 Ton Jochems

RED WINGS / SSJ 100-95LR / RA-89140

 Ton Jochems

ROSSIYA AIRLINES Sukhoi fleet: New livery

RA-89060 SSJ Russiya

RA-89063 SSJ Russiya

RA-89031 SSJ Russiya

 BizavNews

www.bizavnews.ru 

Red Wings to double fleet in 2021 by adding SSJ100s, A320s and B777s

New Livery

Photo: BizavMen
Sukhoi Superjet 100-95B
RA-89140

The Russian airline plans to bring in the total of 20 aircraft this year despite prolongued crisis

Despite obvious excess of available capacities and a full-fledged crisis still plaguing the air travel market, Russian state-owned airline Red Wings intends to grow its fleet from the existing 19 to 39 aircraft within this year, by adding 12 Russian-made Superjet 100s, five Airbus A320s and even three Boeing 777s.

Red Wings’ general director Evgeny Klyucharev shared his airlines’ fleet expansion plans while taking delivery of the fourth Superjet 100 at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport on December 29, 2020. The airline, which is owned by SSJ100 manufacturer United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), was selected to serve as a ‘benchmark SSJ100 operator’ in May 2020. Its fleet of Russian-made regional jets is poised to be increased to 16 units by the end of this year. These aircraft will be based at the airline’s evolving regional hubs, primarily at Yekaterinburg’s Koltsovo airport. This plan is somewhat short of the initial delivery schedule, which would see the airline accepting up to 30 SSJ100s – reportedly ‘white tails’ assembled for no particular customer – before the end of 2021. The project is heavily backed by the state – in the form of leasing discounts, operational reimbursements and subsidized routes.

Introduction of SSJ100s into Red Wings’ schedule and launch of the airline’s ambitious regional project was marked by a steep decline in the airline’s operational performance. Whilst in September 2020 Red Wings carried 309,000 passengers, down just 19 per cent on the pre-crisis 2019 levels, with seat load factor of 83 per cent (down 10.1 percentage points year-on-year), in November traffic reduced by 70.8 per cent on the same month of 2019. The airline served just 51,000 passengers with the seat load factor plunging to 65.8 per cent (down 19.7 p.p. on November 2019). The decline pressed Red Wings out of the TOP-10 ranking of Russia’s largest airlines, whilst it descended from its ninth position to 15th.

This may be a rationale behind Red Wings’ decision not only retain its trusted fleet of 15 Airbus A320 family aircaft, the type associated with the airline’s most successful years, but to rely on Western-build aircraft for fleet expansion. According to Klyucharev, Red Wings plans to bring in five more A320s during 2021. Reportedly, at lease several of these new deliveries will be neos.

Besides, Red Wings confirmed surprising plans to launch operations of widebody Boeing 777s. Three of these aircraft are preparing to join the airline’s fleet as early as January – all three (registration numbers VP-BMR, VP-BSJ и VP-BLI) were previously – financially unsuccessfully – operated by the now defunct VIM Airlines, and later by IrAero.

Red Wings’ current fleet consists of 15 Airbus A320 family aircraft and four Superjet 100s.

Russian Aviation

RED WINGS / SUKHOI SSJ-100-95B SUPERJET 100 / 97020

Welcome Low pass! The return of the type to the company, Now in a new livery

Yury Stepanov

Moscow - Sheremetyevo (SVO / UUEE) Russia - June 22, 2020

SSJ100 Production Facility Celebrates Its 15th Anniversary

On 1 February, SCAC Branch in Komsomolsk-on-Amur (KnAF) turned 15. During the official ceremony held to celebrate the anniversary, a jubilee SSJ100 was handed over to the Flight Test Centre. This aircraft starts the third hundred of jets produced by the company.

“We have put state-of-the-art technologies in Superjet 100, not only concerning aerodynamics, airframe design and systems structure, but also with regard to production. At present, SSJ100 aircraft are operated by airlines and various agencies within the Russian Federation and internationally. As of yet, Superjet 100 is the only brand-new Russian passenger jet produced domestically and certified in our country and abroad,” explained Ravil Khakimov, SCAC’s Director General.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade awarded two engineers and one technician of KnAF with Certificates of Appreciation.

As stated by Sergey Denisenko, Minister of Industry of the Khabarovsk Krai, “Komsomolsk-on-Amur Branch is Russia’s unique production facility. The principles of quick improvements are implied here. KnAF is one of the largest and the most advanced machine-building enterprises in the Khabarovsk Krai.”

“Nowadays one third of all globally-produced 100-seaters are manufactured in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. For our employees, we’ve made habitual a lot of best practices in the sphere of production – Kaizen culture, Kanban and QPDCA methodology, and the Gemba principle. We value commitment of each employee to his work,” said KnAF Director Andrey Soynov.

To date, the total flight time of SSJ100 fleet is more than 700 thousand hours. Superjets in operation have performed about 450 thousand take-offs and landings.

Pakistan Int'l Airlines eyes up to 16 SSJ 100/95s

PIA - Pakistan International Airlines (PK, Karachi Int'l) is considering adding between six and sixteen SSJ 100/95s as a part of an investment deal offered by the Russian government to Pakistan, Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia Denis Manturov told the media during a visit to the Asian country.



The Russian side has offered various options regarding the addition of the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft regional jets, ranging from purchase to dry- and even wet-lease. It is unclear who would be wet-leasing the aircraft to PIA in the last option.

The deal was a part of the largest-ever business agreement between Russia and Pakistan, wherein the Kremlin pledged billions of dollars worth of investment in the latter country.

The Russian government and Sukhoi are actively trying to find new foreign operators for the SSJ 100/95s.

Russia’s Severstal takes delivery of its first Superjet 100

Severstal’s first SSJ100, with registration number RA-89117, was delivered to the airline on lease from GTLK on December 26 (Severstal)

Russian regional carrier Severstal Airlines, which is owned by steel and mining giant Severstal, has taken delivery of its first Superjet 100 and entry into service for its initial Russian regional jet is planned for early 2019.

The aircraft, with registration number RA-89117, was delivered to the airline on December 26 and is currently at its Cherepovets home base airport. It features a convertible cabin, which affords seating capacity adjustments, and offers between 100 single economy class seats, or a two-class 93-seat configuration with eight in business.

The company’s SSJ100s are being taken on a 12-year term financial lease from State Transport Leasing Company (known by the acronym GTLK), Russia’s largest leasing company. GTLK is to deliver three more Superjets to Severstal within the period 2018-2019. The airline also has an option for another two aircraft. Russian regional jets are to replace airline’s entire fleet of ageing Bombardier CRJ200s.

Severstal’s order is for the SSJ100 B100 version with the more powerful SaM146-1S18 engines for improved runway performance. The airline also plans to retrofit its SSJ100 fleet with blended winglets (nicknamed saberlets), which are currently being tested by the aircraft’s manufacturer Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC). Severstal is poised to be one of the early operators of the saberlets-equipped Superjets.

The arrival of the Russian-made aircraft in the Severstal fleet renewal programme will stimulate passenger traffic growth, it is hoped. The airline currently operates six 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200s and one 32-seat Yakovlev Yak-40.



In 2017, the Cherepovets-based airline carried some 240,900 passengers, up 4.3 per cent on the previous year. Severstal Airlines, a subsidiary of steel and mining giant Severstal, which is majority-owned and controlled by Russian tycoon Alexey Mordashov, performs domestic and international scheduled and charter flights across Russia, the CIS countries and also to Europe.
by ES in Aerospace,

UAC moves Superjet 100 from Sukhoi to Irkut in company restructure

Russia’s Superjet 100 is no longer part of the Sukhoi product line as parent company United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) rearranges its structure to separate its commercial and military aircraft manufacturing assets.

UAC’s board at the end of November decided to transfer the shares of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. (SCAC), the Superjet designer and manufacturer, from its Sukhoi Holding subsidiary to its Irkut Corp. subsidiary. Irkut will become the home of UAC’s commercial division. Sukhoi is a well-established manufacturer of combat aircraft for the Russian military and export customers, and commercial aircraft is not a focus, a company source explained.

Sukhoi set up SCAC in 2000 to separate the Superjet 100 project, known then as the Russian Regional Jet, from its traditional military programs. It regained 100% share in SCAC in early 2017, when strategic partner Leonardo pulled out because of Superjet’s poor financial performance.

The decision to merger all UAC commercial programs under a joint management was made in 2017. Although Superjet 100 is the only commercial product generating revenues for UAC, Irkut was chosen to house the commercial activities because it heads Russia’s key civil-aircraft development program, the MC-21 narrowbody airliner. This aircraft is expected to get the Russian type certificate in 2020.

The new division will manage at least three commercial programs, Superjet 100, MC-21 and Russo-Chinese CR929 widebody. But two other commercial programs at the development stage—Il-114 passenger turboprop and modernized IL-96-400 widebody will be left with Ilyushin, which could emerge as a new transport aircraft division once programs are further established.

In addition, SCAC and Irkut, the new commercial division will include Yakovlev Design Bureau, avionics specialist UAC—Integration Center and composite manufacturer AeroComposit.

UAC considered separating the new commercial division from the rest of the company to help avoid sanctions. But such a move now appears unlikely following the Russian government’s decision in October to place UAC under industrial giant Rostec. Both Rostec and its CEO, Sergey Chemezov, are also under Western sanctions.

Sukhoi Civil finds second European customer for its Superjet 100

Adria Airways, an operator of western-built aircraft, has signed a LOI with Sukhoi Civil covering 15 Superjet 100 aircraft (Adria Airways)

Slovenia’s Adria Airways – and its German-run owner 4K Invest – have signalled a move towards a possible strategic relationship with Russia’s Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC), by expressing an intention to lease 15 Superjet aircraft whilst also establishing a joint SSJ100 maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business for the type in the central European republic.

The Ljubljana-based carrier, currently an operator of western-built predominantly regional aircraft, has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Sukhoi Civil covering 15 Superjet 100 aircraft. In addition, the parties have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a joint MRO venture for the SSJ100 at Ljubljana Airport, reveals Denis Manturov, the Russian Federation’s minister of industry and trade. Aircraft deliveries will commence as early as “the beginning of 2019, under a long-term lease arrangement,” the minister adds.

SCAC president Alexander Rubtsov, Holger Kowarsch who is chief executive of Adria Airways and Dr Martin Vorderwulbecke, managing director of AA Aviation (a 4K Invest company), have all indicated that the signed papers open a new chapter towards “a strategic relationship between the parties”, a SCAC statement reads. The Slovenian airline, which claims to have been evaluating the Superjet 100 since 2016, believes the Russian-built regional aircraft “will totally support” Adria Airways´ development strategy.

“During the past two years we have been analysing the SSJ100 type and have come to the conclusion that all the technical and operational characteristics of this aircraft would best suit our strategic goals,” says Kowarsch. He also adds that the introduction of the SSJ100s would release more of its Bombardier CRJs and Airbus aircraft for outsourced ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) operations.

Addressing the issue of the SSJ100’s international operator concerns over poor after-sales support and the type’s ‘childhood diseases’, the manufacturer has agreed to set up the MRO joint venture with the Slovenian flag carrier at its base. “We realise that the SSJ100 after-sales support at the entry to the European market must be organised profoundly and professionally. Together with Adria Airways we will create a joint maintenance and repair organisation for the SSJ100 at Ljubljana Airport. That service platform will secure the operational reliability of the SSJ100 aircraft in Europe,” SCAC’s Rubtsov states.

In September, Belgium’s Brussels Airlines announced that it is not extending its Superjet 100 wet lease contract with service provider Ireland-based CityJet, citing ‘challenging maintenance’ issues. Mexican airline Interjet has 22 of the Russian-built jets, with only 12 currently operational.



100 per cent owned by Germany-based private equity firm 4K Invest, Adria Airways currently operates a fleet of 15 jets: three Airbus A319s, three Bombardier CRJ700s and nine CRJ900s, as well as three Saab 200 turboprops.

 by ES in Air Transport, 

First overseas delivery this year of the Sukhoi Superjet 100

The ferry flight of the SBJ from Sukhoi’s test base at Zhukovsky (near Moscow) to Bangkok was performed with a technical stop in Islamabad (Pakistan) on June 19, 2018 (SCAC)

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co (SCAC) has delivered an extended range version of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ 100LR) aircraft in VIP-configuration to the Royal Thai Air Force, the first international delivery this year of the Russian regional jet.

Also known as SBJ (Sukhoi Business Jet), the latest delivery is the third aircraft of the type to join the Royal Thai Air Force fleet. The SSJ100s have been operated as VIP transporters by Thailand since July 2016, following SCAC’s successful competitive tender in 2014.

The aircraft are operated domestically and internationally on behalf of the country’s leaders, including top officials, members of the Thai royal family and the high command of the country’s armed forces.

The two original Thai SBJ interiors featured three cabin layouts – a four-passenger VIP zone, a six-passenger business-class zone and a standard area with a seating capacity of up to 50 passengers. The newly delivered aircraft (MSN 95132) is reportedly configured differently. It will seat 73 passengers, with the cabin divided into two zones, with one believed to be a combination of VIP and business class seats.

SCAC says that since 2016 when the Royal Thai Air Force became the first foreign customer for the business-version of the SSJ100, a number of other customers have followed suit, including Russia’s business aviation operator RusJet; the President of the Russian Federation’s special-purpose Rossiya flight detachment; the EMERCOM flight detachment; and Kazakhstan’s Kazakhmys metal Corp (operated by Comlux KZ), bringing to 10 the number of SBJs currently in operation worldwide.

SCAC says that work is in progress to further enhance the Sukhoi Business Jet by implementing specific new technical features requested by customers, such as integral air-stairs, satellite communications, multimedia entertainment systems and other options. There is also an aim to increase the aircraft’s nonstop flight capability to more than 7,000 km.











by ES in Aerospace, Business Aviation,

SSJ100 production rate up in 2017

The manufacturer expects to deliver between 170 and 180 Superjets in the next five years (SCAC)

Russia’s Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC) built 34 Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) regional jets in 2017, or nearly 55% up on 2016. The previous peak in production dates back to 2014 at 37 airframes.

SCAC delivered 30 SSJ100s in 2017. The aircraft mostly went to VEB Leasing, which has a lease contract with Aeroflot for 20 of the type, and also to State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK), which leases SSJ100s to various carriers, including Yamal Airlines, Azimuth Airlines, and IrAero.

Azimuth, which launched in the second half of 2017, has an all-Superjet fleet. Brussels Airlines, a new foreign operator for the Russian-built aircraft, wet-leases them from Irish-based CityJet. Last year, the SSJ100B-100 version with short-runway performance entered commercial operation in Europe. These aircraft are equipped with higher thrust engines.

SCAC delivered six aircraft to end users in H1 2017. The manufacturer explained at the time that a portion of the ordered airframes were expected to be delivered in the second half of the year. The company did not disclose the customers’ names, but open source data suggest that at least 13 new SCAC-built aircraft were put into operation during the half-year period: four by IrAero (RA-89075, RA-89076, RA-89077, and RA-89078), six by Yamal Airlines (RA-89068, RA-89069, RA-89070, RA-89071, RA-89072, and RA-89073), and three by CityJet (EI-FWF, EI-FWE, and EI-FWD). In the second half of the year, five SSJ100s were delivered to Aeroflot and one each to Azimuth Airlines and Yamal.

In the beginning of the previous year, the former SCAC management announced the plan to deliver up to 40 airliners annually in 2017-19, of which about 35 would be factory-new and the rest would come from the secondary market. As per the 2018 sales plan, Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov in December last year revised the figure down, from 38 to 30 aircraft.

Since the rollout of the first SSJ100 prototype 10 years ago, SCAC has built more than 150 aircraft. As of December 2017, Russian and foreign airlines and also government agencies were operating a total of over 100 Superjets. The fleet had performed in excess of 240,000 commercial flights, accumulating more than 370,000 flight hours in total.

“Overall demand in the 100-seat segment may exceed 2,300 aircraft in 2017 through 2036,” reads the manufacturer’s statement. “We expect to deliver between 170 and 180 airliners in the next five years, including in the business variant, at a rate of 35 to 40 per year.”
Russian Aviation Insider

SCAC says delivered six Superjets in H1 2017

Yamal Airlines was one of the carriers that put SSJ100 aircraft into revenue service this year (Yamal Airlines)

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC) delivered six Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional aircraft in the first half of 2017, reads the company’s Q2 statement. The figure is 33.3% lower than during the same period last year. The manufacturer explains the decline by the schedule of 2017 deliveries, which calls for the main portion of new airliners to be handed over to customers in the second half of the year.

The slowdown in deliveries led to SCAC seeing its revenue drop 25.4%, to 10.111 billion rubles ($171 million). The company also registered a net loss of 751.5 million rubles for the first six months of the year, Kommersant daily reports, against a net income during the same period in 2016. SCAC puts the losses down to the unfavorable ruble exchange rate and massive expenses on interest payments.

The report does not disclose the recipients of the six aircraft delivered in the first half of the year. Open sources suggest that at least 13 Superjets were put into revenue service over the period: four by IrAero (RA-89075, RA-89076, RA-89077, and RA-89078), six by Yamal Airlines (RA-89068, RA-89069, RA-89070, RA-89071, RA-89072, and RA-89073), and three aircraft by Irish-based CityJet (EI-FWF, EI-FWE, and EI-FWD).

The SCAC report says the company is planning to sell a total of 34 SSJ 100 aircraft in 2017. The plans for 2018 and 2019 call for delivering 38 and 37 airframes, respectively. In 2016, according to the manufacturer’s updated report, it delivered 26 SSJ100s (as compared to the original report, which mentioned 28).

SCAC is believed to have delivered a total of 115 Superjets to July 31, 2017.
Russian Aviation Insider

Azimut Airlines mulling more SSJ100s

The airline has already received its first two of the type (Fyodor Borisov / Transport-Photo.com)

Russia’s new carrier Azimut Airlines, which placed a firm order for eight Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) regional airliners with State Transport Leasing Corporation (GTLK), might expand to 16 of the type.

At the ongoing MAKS 2017 exhibition, the carrier signed a letter of intent with Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC), the Superjet manufacturer, for another four such airplanes. Deliveries are preliminarily scheduled to take place in 2021-22.

The airline hopes to have ironed out the technicalities and selected the leassor before the end of the year. A similar preliminary letter, for another four Superjets to be delivered by 2020, had been signed with GTLK earlier, as earlier reported by Russian Aviation Insider.

The eight firm deliveries are expected to be completed in 2018. Azimut Airlines has already received the first two airframes. These represent the SSJ100LR long-range version, and come in two different cabin configurations: the all-economy one seats 103 passengers, whereas the other converts from 100 seats in single class to a total of 93 in coach and economy, SCAC says.

To be initially based at Rostov International Airport, Azimut expects to launch operations in September 2017. Once Rostov’s new Platov airport, which is currently under construction, becomes operational, the airline plans to move there.

Russian Aviation Insider

Azimut Airlines receives its first SSJ100

The aircraft arrived straight from the factory (Azimut)

Azimut Airlines, a recently created operator based in Russia’s Rostov-on-Don, has taken delivery of its first aircraft. The Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) regional jet, registration code RA-89079, arrived straight from the factory. It is painted in the Azimut livery, which was developed by Russian design agency Asgard Branding.

Azimut is leasing the airliner from State Transport Leasing Corporation (GTLK) for 12 years. As earlier reported, the carrier placed a firm order for four of the type and an option for eight more.

The airline could eventually expand its SSJ100 fleet to 12 airframes (Azimut)

The newly arrived aircraft is the SSJ100LR extended-range version, as will be the other three airliners to be delivered under the firm order.

Azimut will start operations from Rostov-on-Don’s existing airport in September, after it has received its air operator’s certificate. Later on it will move to the city’s new airport, Platov, which is currently under construction. The carrier is planning to offer direct services between the country’s southern regions.

The airline is projected to break even within three years and begin carrying anywhere between 2 and 3 million passengers annually.

The stakeholders are reportedly Vitaly Vantsev, co-owner of Vnukovo airport, and Pavel Udod, formerly deputy general director of Yakutia Airlines.