RUSSIA’S AIRCRAFT INDUSTRY OUTPUT UP 16.4% IN 2007
RIA Novosti
18:40 | 07/ 02/ 2008
MOSCOW, February 7 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s aircraft industry increased
production 16.4%, year-on-year, in 2007, the Industry and Energy
Ministry said on Thursday.
Growth in helicopter production was mainly secured by export
contracts, while demand was driven by the high quality of Russian-built
rotary-winged aircraft and their relatively low prices, the ministry
said in a press release posted on its official website.
The ministry said the state would implement an array of measures
to stimulate demand, in particular, by increasing the United
Aircraft-Building Corporation’s (UABC) authorized capital, granting
state subsidies to UABC subsidiaries and affiliates, and extending
soft loans to Russian leasing companies for the acquisition of
Russian-made aircraft.
It also said that the industry’s development strategy through 2015
would enable it to significantly increase sales of Russian manufactured
long-haul and regional airplanes.
The Russian transport minister said on Wednesday that the first Sukhoi
SuperJet-100 airplanes would be supplied to Russia’s flagship carrier
Aeroflot, and the first deliveries abroad would be made to Armenia.
The SuperJet 100 project is a family of medium-range passenger
aircraft developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau in cooperation with
major American and European aviation corporations, including Boeing,
Snecma, Thales, Messier Dowty, Liebherr Aerospace, and Honeywell.
The aircraft maker said last month it was planning to sell 150 new
Sukhoi SuperJet-100 aircraft, saying so far it had 73 contracts.
It plans to manufacture at least 700 SuperJet 100s, and intends to
sell 35% of them to North America, 25% to Europe, 10% to Latin America,
and 7% to Russia and China.
The list price of a 95-seat base model is $28 million, but the company
is currently working on both smaller and larger capacity modifications.
The SuperJet 100 has an estimated $100 billion market for around
5,500 planes, through 2023.