VENICE — Nearly a generation has passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the bi-polar world of communist and capitalist economies has given way to an interconnected world of globalized competition and industrial integration often bolstered by state support.
With the commercial jet aircraft manufacturing landscape having dwindled to just four players over the past decade, that trend of industrial consolidation is set to reverse itself in the years to come. Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi, best known for its portfolio of fighter aircraft, is the first in a spate of new entrants to offer a jetliner assembled solely in the eastern hemisphere, but marketed to the world.
Its product, the 100-seat SSJ100 aircraft, made its first flight from Komsomolsk-on-Aumr, Russia in May 2008. It is powered by two PowerJet SaM146 engines, and is the launch point of a new business model which aims to challenge the established airframers Embraer and Bombardier on a global battlefield, starting with entry into service by year’s end with Russian flag carrier Aeroflot and Armenian carrier Armavia.
As the first new entrant to step up to the plate, Suhkoi Civil Aircraft (SCAC) solidfied its strategic partnership with Alenia Aeronautica, the civil branch of Finnemeccanica, in June 2006 with a 75%/25% development split. A year later forming Superjet International, a Venice, Italy-based joint venture between Alenia (51%) and Sukhoi (49%) that took the reins on global marketing and product support.
The road to it’s year-end entry into service, like the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787, has faced two years of delay after its originally planned November 2008 first delivery slipped due to an over-optimistic development schedule and production issues on the aircraft’s engine. The engine-maker now claims it is in control of those issues, and is now winding down its four-aircraft flight test program with the approaching first flight of its first production aircraft.
With next week’s Farnborough air show marking just over a year since the new 100 seater’s western debut at the Paris air show, the Superjet is poised to announced new orders, including a fresh Letter of Intent from a North American lessor for up to 65.
This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.