Superjet
Sun Sep 23, 2007 10:57 AM BST
By Tim Hepher
PARIS, Sept 23 (Reuters) – Russia will seek a boost for President Vladimir
Putin’s bid to revive its once mighty aviation industry this week, by rolling
out its first modern commercial airliner for the global market — the
Superjet.
Built by the former Soviet Union’s largest warplane maker Sukhoi, whose Su-27
fighter family was designed for combat with Boeing’s F-15 Eagle, the civil
Superjet is a 78 to 98 seat regional airliner developed in co-operation with
its old Cold War foe.
The new civil plane will be unveiled at a Sukhoi military factory at
Komsomolsk-on-Amur in Russia’s Far East on Sept. 26. Its September maiden
flight has been delayed for a month or two.
While Boeing’s <BA.N> involvement in development is seen by analysts as a
symbolic one, with the U.S. group keen to tap into Russian titanium supplies
for its next generation of jetliners, French and Italian firms have invested
heavily in the project.
At stake is an $8 billion market for regional jets dominated by Brazil’s
Embraer <EMBR3.SA><ERJ.N> and Bombardier <BBDb.TO> of Canada, though that is
relatively small compared with the $60 billion spent annually on big jets made
by Boeing and Airbus.
Sukhoi’s new civil battle also pitches it against Chinese and Japanese firms
racing to invest in regional jet transport — a market which offers a chance
to flex industrial muscle without the colossal sums needed to challenge
Airbus <EAD.PA> or Boeing.
"This is a very important programme for Russia because it means the rebirth
of its aerospace industry," said Marc Ventre, executive vice-president of
aerospace propulsion at French conglomerate Safran <SAF.PA>.
"The Russians are very good in military aircraft but in commercial aircraft
they are far behind, and this should put the their industry back on track,"
Ventre told Reuters.
Russian aviation collapsed after the fall of the Soviet Union. Observers say
Putin wants to breathe new life into the sector to demonstrate Moscow’s
industrial clout abroad and help project the Kremlin’s authority to voters
inside Russia.
Russia’s leader has forged a giant new state aircraft holding company, known
as United Aviation Corporation, to spearhead the revival under First Deputy
Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, a Putin favourite tipped as leading candidate to
succeed him next year.
FOREIGN INVESTORS
Key to the Superjet’s success is a deal between Sukhoi and Italian aerospace
firm Finmeccanica <SIFI.MI>, whose Alenia Aeronautica unit has 25 percent of
Sukhoi’s civil division.
Alenia, which co-owns Franco-Italian turboprop maker ATR with Airbus parent
EADS, plans to provide after-sales service and support that are both crucial
for winning contracts.
Sukhoi hopes to reach 100 plane sales by end-year. Safran’s Ventre predicted
at least 800 sales in total, worth $20 billion.
Russian airlines Aeroflot <AFLT.MM> and Air Union are the main buyers to
date of the Superjet 100.
ItAli, an airline based in the Italian town of Pescara, was the first Western
firm to order the jet. Air France and Lufthansa are on the target list for
sales, but the only other foreign customer so far is Armenian airline
Armavia.
Sukhoi hopes to charm airlines with a relatively low list price reported to
be $25 million, about 25 percent below rivals.
Safran’s Snecma unit is co-operating with Russia’s NPO Saturn to produce the
engines for the Superjet 100. French electronics firm Thales <TCFP.PA> is
fitting the avionics.
Analysts say outside investment is vital for shrugging off the second-best
image that tainted previous efforts to build commercial jets with Western
engines by Ilyushin and Tupolev.
But there are doubts over the relatively narrow corner of the global market
targeted by Russia, with China and Japan not far behind. Embraer is firmly in
the driving seat, followed by Bombardier, and some question whether there is
room for more.
"What was a growth market is now a flat market. Aviation is booming but
regional jets are the flattest market of all," said Richard Aboulafia of
U.S.-based aviation consultancy Teal Group.
With relentless pressure on seat-mile costs, airlines will also look hard at
performance once the Superjet starts flying.
The Sukhoi Su-27 "Flanker" is famous for its breathtaking "Cobra" manoeuvre
at air shows. But hard-nosed airlines are only concerned about characteristics
such as weight and a couple of extra tonnes can be a death sentence to a
civil aircraft project.
"Military people tend to over-engineer," Aboulafia warned.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
