Russia's gas giant Gazprom has signed an agreement of intent for 10 Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft.
The company's procurement arm, GazpromKomplektatsiya, signed the pact with Sukhoi at the Farnborough Air Show. The entire batch is slated for Gazprom's in-house carrier Gazpromavia.
Last year it identified its requirement for 10 passenger Superjets but made their acquisition conditional on guarantees covering delivery terms and technical support.
"We've resolved these issues during a series of follow-up negotiations," says Superjet programme director Vladimir Prisyazhnyuk.
"There is a lot of evidence of our efforts to customise our product to particular client's needs and apparently this has convinced Gazpromavia."
The carrier is planning to replace its seven Yakovlev Yak-42 tri-jets with Superjet models. Under the deal, deliveries are scheduled to take place in 2013-15.
Prisyazhnyuk says: "Gazpromavia and its parent are continuing studying their requirements and financial opportunities from the standpoint of using Superjets. This bodes well for a possible further deal with them."
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
