Sukhoi Premiers New Jet, Wins Malev Order
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Russian planemaker Sukhoi launched the country's first civilian passenger plane since the collapse of the Soviet Union, unveiled a USD$1 billion deal and forecast further orders in spite of the industry downturn.
The company said at the Paris Air Show it had agreed to sell 30 new Superjet 100 civil passenger planes to Hungary's Malev in a USD$1 billion deal, and said there was more to come.
Director General Mikhail Pogosyan told reporters he expects to win 150 firm orders by the end of the year, up from less than 100 before the airshow.
"When we made the forecast we had in mind the financial crisis. It's now very important that we ramp up production for the start of the recovery," he said, adding that he expected the plane to sell for the next 15 years.
The plane took off for a short first public flight immediately after Pogosyan's comments -- the only new passenger plane to be demonstrated at the world's biggest airshow.
The launch came in sharp contrast to the lengthy delays suffered by passenger planes developed by industry giants Boeing and Airbus -- notably Boeing's still-delayed 787 Dreamliner.
Pogosyan was gracious to his competitors despite stealing the limelight, saying Boeing's commercial planes head Scott Carson had visited the Superjet 100 plane earlier in the day.
"We've been working with Boeing for a number of years, and are really unhappy the 787 is not here. But we wish them success -- we are not happy when others are unhappy," he said.
Carson earlier told a news conference he saw a recovery in the industry by the middle of next year.
The Boeing 787's first flight is expected to be imminent.
The Superjet, developed with Italy's Finmeccanica, is, at 70-100 seats, a relatively small plane, but Pogosyan said he was thinking of developing a new version to take on larger aircraft.
"We are thinking about a stretch version," he said.
Fellow Russian maker Irkut said earlier on Monday it planned to build over 1,000 of its own passenger planes. The MC-21 single aisle plane is expected to make its maiden flight in 2014, and the group expects deliveries by 2016.
The project is backed by over USD$3 billion of Russian state money.
