The latest slip to Sukhoi Superjet 100 deliveries to launch customer Aeroflot has prompted the carrier to push for the government to allow the interim acquisition of western large regional jets without the penalty of import taxes.
First SSJ delivery has now slipped to September 2009 - having previously been due in the first half of next year. However, while Sukhoi has not yet revealed which airline will be the first to operate the type, it is thought unlikely that it will be Aeroflot. Initial certification will only allow restricted commercial operations, with approval of flights in adverse weathers and landing in poor visibility. Sukhoi will undertake additional flight testing to extend the flight envelope and remove temporary limitations, with full Russian certification expected in January 2010.
Another slip in the SSJ schedule puts Aeroflot in a difficult situation, which is further complicated by the crash of a Boeing 737-500 operated by its Aeroflot Nord arm. The flag carrier had planned to use 737s operated by its subsidiaries Nord and Don to help fill the capacity shortage. However following the initial findings into the crash, Aeroflot intends to rescind the wet-lease agreement with Nord "in the short term".
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The carrier has urged the Russian government to permit it to acquire Bombardier CRJ900s or Embraer 190/195s without an import tax penalty.
However an initial approach by Aeroflot general director Valery Okulov to prime minister Vladimir Putin was rejected, with Aeroflot being told to wait for the SSJ and if western types are needed, take them under the normal import conditions where 20% import tax and 18% VAT is applied. However, Putin has indicated that any further delays would see import rules eased.
Only one flight-test SSJ prototype has been completed so far along with one ground-test airframe. A second operable prototype and second ground-test aircraft are scheduled for completion in October, with the third and fourth flight-test aircraft due to join the programme in December and January respectively. A shortage of PowerJet SAM146 engines is said to be one reason why the completion of the second flight-test aircraft has been delayed.
Earlier plans to ferry the SSJ prototype from the production plant in Komsomolsk-upon-Amur to the Gromov flight test base in Zhukovsky near Moscow have been dropped, with Russia's ARMAK certification authority agreeing to allow the approval process to be undertaken in situ.
Source: Flight International
