Sukhoi is to launch a business jet version of its Superjet 100 regional aircraft but appears to be backing away from a stretched variant in the near term.
The airframer's civil aircraft division disclosed initial plans for the executive aircraft at the Paris air show but will give further details at the NBAA show in Las Vegas in October.
"We're ready to start work on a business version of the aircraft because the performance characteristics and the size of the cabin make us sure a business version will successfully enter the market," said Sukhoi Civil Aircraft chief Vladimir Prisyazhnyuk.
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The aircraft's cabin could include a master bedroom, shower installations, business salon and communications equipment, he added.
Superjet International, which markets the Superjet airliner, estimated demand for the business version at 80 airframes over the next 20 years.
Chief executive Carlo Logli said the baseline price for the jet would be in the region of $50 million.
"We're impressed by the high number of requests from customers, VIP customers, who appreciated the cabin," he added.
United Aircraft chief Mikhail Pogosyan said it was a "good moment" to disclose a further development of the Superjet, and added that the company had "all the required resources" to convert the type into a business jet.
Prisyazhnyuk told Flightglobal that Sukhoi was working on a longer-range version of the Superjet, which would reduce the baseline jet's airframe weight and raise its fuel capacity, to increase the maximum take-off weight to around 49.5t.
But he admitted that, as a result of plans by United Aircraft to create a single airliner offering in each capacity sector, plans for a stretched Superjet were "too premature". The proposed 115- to 120-seat aircraft would remain as a study, he said.
- All the latest news, images and video from the 2011 Paris air show
Source: Flight Daily News
