Adria Airways to acquire fifteen Sukhoi Superjets
Adria Airways has concluded a long-term lease arrangement with Russia's Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC) for fifteen of its flagship Superjet 100 aircraft. The first of the jets will be delivered as early as next year. A Letter of Intent was signed between the Russian Minister for Industry and Trade, Denis Manturov, and Adria's CEO, Holger Kowarsch. Both parties also inked a Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of an SSJ100 Maintenance and Repair Organisation (MRO) at Ljubljana Airport. Discussions between the two sides began following 4K Invest's acquisition of the Slovenian carrier in 2016. Sukhoi's parent company, United Aircraft Corporation, identified Adria as an ideal customer as early as 2015, due to its fleet structure, which is largely made up of Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft.
The fifteen jets will consist of a mix of new and already built airframes. The SCAC has historically been cautious of allowing customers to master the type’s MRO in-house, largely because its business plan calls for return-on-investment into the SSJ100 development to come from services on aftersales support. SCAC President, Alexander Rubtsov, and Adria Airways' Managing Director, Martin Vorderwulbecke, indicated that “the agreements signed opened a new chapter towards a strategic relationship between the two parties”. The two sides are yet to finalise the financial value of the deal.
Commenting on the order, Adria's CEO said, “It is our pleasure to partner with Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company. They will completely support Adria's development strategy. During the past two years we have been analysing the SSJ100 and came to the conclusion that all the technical and operational characteristics of this aircraft would suit our strategic goals the best”. Mr Kowarsch added that the SSJ100 would additionally free up Adria's Bombardier and Airbus fleet for ACMI contracts. Mr Rubtsov, noted, “We realise that the SSJ100 after-sales support at the entry to the European market should be organised professionally. Together with Adria Airways we will create a joint maintenance and repair organisation for the SSJ100 at Ljubljana Airport. That service platform will secure the operational reliability of SSJ100 aircraft in Europe”.
As of next year, Adria will operate Russian-manufactured aircraft for the first time in its 57-year history. The Sukhoi Superjet has the capacity to seat between 87 and 108 passengers, depending on cabin layout and seat configuration. The SSJ100 has a single-engine option, the SaM146, manufactured by France's Safran in cooperation with Russia’s United Engines. The Russian manufacturer is already planning a new generation of the regional jet with extended capacity, new wings and new engines, which is expected to appear after 2025. The first European carrier outside of Russia to operate the SSJ100 on revenue flights was the Irish regional airline CityJet, while Brussels Airlines has wet-leased four of the aircraft, which it will return to its owner early next year.
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