Antonov is planning to repair the sole An-70 transport damaged in a non-fatal accident earlier this year, possibly in time for June's Paris air show.
The An-70 was extensively damaged in the 27 January accident at Omsk in Russia, which happened after its outboard port and inboard starboard Progress D-27 propfans failed during take-off.
It was reported at the time that the fuselage broke in two and the outboard port engine left its mounting.
Antonov head of department Valeriy Panych says the An-70 is being repaired at Omsk and the Ukrainian design bureau "will probably" display the transport at Paris.
Panych says it is not known how long the delay to certification of the An-70 will be. Initial tests are complete, but trials in temperature extremes, for example, remain to be done. The An-70 had been in the final phase of a three-year certification programme and was transiting through Omsk to the eastern Russian republic of Sakha/Yakutia for cold weather trials.
Panych says Antonov meanwhile continues to work on improving the design to reduce its operating costs and to develop a two-crew cockpit in place of the five-man crew required by the Russian and Ukrainian air forces.
Source: Flight International
