Sukhoi's first serial production Superjet 100 is pictured here at the airframer's production line as the company bids to deliver the type to initial customers this year.
Fuselage mating and wing assembly of the aircraft, number 95007, was completed earlier this year and the twin-jet was subsequently transferred for wing mating and systems installation.
While the initial aircraft have been destined for Russia's Aeroflot, sources close to the programme indicate that Armavia is likely to be the first customer to receive the type, owing to its requirement for a less-demanding configuration.
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Armavia has two Superjets on order and Russian vice-premier Sergei Ivanov stated, during a visit to Yerevan on 16 May, that the airline would receive the jets at the end of 2009 or beginning of 2010.
In July, he adds, the aircraft will undergo tests in the vicinity of Armenia's mountainous terrain.
Two more prototypes - aircraft 95004 and 95005 - are shortly to join the flight-test programme which already includes 95001 and 95003. Aircraft 95006 is a development airframe and was transported to Novosibirsk for fatigue tests last year.
Source: Flight International
