Adria to take CityJet Sukhois
The Russian Minister for Industry and Trade, Denis Manturov, has confirmed that the first deliveries of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft destined for Adria Airways will be built airframes formerly operated by Ireland's CityJet. The aircraft, which were phased out by CityJet last month after Brussels Airlines cut short its wet-lease arrangement for the jets, have been returned to the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC). Speaking at the sidelines of the International Defence Exhibition in Abu Dhabi, Mr Manturov said, "The aircraft, which will be withdrawn from CityJet, will remain in Europe and there is already a preliminary agreement with an airline from Slovenia". He added that the aircraft will be transferred to Adria.
Adria Airways and the Russian plane manufacturer signed a Letter of Intent for fifteen SSJ100s in November of last year. Last month, the Slovenian carrier advertised job openings for SSJ type-rated pilots. The President of the Sukhoi Civil Aviation Company, Alexander Rubtsov, recently said, "I think that in the first quarter we will sign the contract [with Adria] or maybe even earlier, in February, because based on our plans, the first deliveries are scheduled for April". According to Mr Rubtsov, Sukhoi will deliver both new and already built airframes to Adria. In late December, the Slovenian carrier registered its own maintenance, repair and overhaul business named Adria Airways Super MRO aircraft maintenance which will be an SSJ100 aircraft Maintenance and Repair Organisation.
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| CityJet SSJ100 cabin |
Brussels Airlines, which has been wet-leasing CityJet SSJ100s, did not renew its contract for the aircraft due to their "challenging maintenance" issues and "childhood diseases". Aside from that, the airline insisted that the SSJ100 remains an "overall good" aircraft. “In general, even a small technical issue needs more time to be resolved than if it was an older type of aircraft. The collective experiences made so far with the SSJ are not yet very extensive. This results in longer maintenance dwell times, obliging Brussels Airlines to adapt its schedules and flight offers on a regular basis", the company said. However, it added, “The SSJ100 offers high comfort and, on a regular basis, we receive positive feedback from our guests about the seat comfort and the large baggage storage space in the overhead bins”. The Russian Minister for Industry and Trade noted yesterday, "These issues have been under discussion for a long time. This is not news. The main problem is that they [CityJet] could not, unfortunately, choose a high-quality business model using the SSJ100. CityJet’s decision to return the Sukhoi aircraft was not related to its quality or maintenance".
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