Russian airframe builder RSK MiG seems set to confirm its development deal with Tupolev over the Tu-334 twinjet, after more than two years of equivocation. Sales of MiG-29 fighter aircraft soared last year - over $1 billion booked - enabling RSK MiG to set up theTu-334 assembly line at its Voronin plant, according to general director Nikolai Nikitin.
RSK has agreed to pay $25 million towards certification of theTu-334, which it aims to produce at Voronin in co-operation with the Aviant plant in Kiev, Ukraine. The prototype has so far made more than 100 flights. Combined with state funding, RSK's investment will allow type certification in 2003, a year earlier than expected. The government has called for 2,390 million roubles ($78 million) investment in the Tu-334 in 2002-5, including 1.6 billion roubles from the state budget.
RSK is also close to signing a deal on the Tu-334 with EADS, which wants to reduce the seating capacity to 70-90, as the current 102-seat Tu-334-100 variant might compete with the Airbus A318. EADS will help gain European certification for the Tu-334 and is also understood to be interested in assisting the development of a "Westernised" version with Rolls-Royce BR715 engines. Deliveries of the standard Tu-334-100 should begin in 2004, at a unit price of $18-20 million.
Source: Flight International
