Four Russian airlines have placed orders and options for the Sukhoi Superjet during MAKS 2021, for a total of 58 aircraft.
The largest order came from Red Wings, which agreed to take 25 Superjets. The carrier has been leasing seven aircraft of the type since September 2020.
“The first year of operation of the SSJ100 has shown that this machine is perfect for regional transportation in Russia,” said Evgeny Klyucharev, General Director of Red Wings. “Now our Superjets fly from three base airports on about 40 routes and we have serious plans for it: we intend in 2021-2022 to open dozens of new destinations and two or three new bases at regional airports.”
Aeroflot subsidiary Rossiya Airlines placed an order for 15 more Superjets, in addition to the 34 it already operates. For the past few months, Aeroflot has been progressively transferring its SSJs to its subsidiary, with all 54 aircraft to eventually be absorbed by Rossiya.
Aurora, from which Aeroflot Group recently divested, signed a preliminary agreement to lease eight Superjet 100s from the state-owned company GTLK. The airline hopes to consolidate a network in far-eastern Russia by acquiring 45 aircraft by 2025.
Finally, Azimuth signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for 10 SSJ 100s. The regional airline already operates 15 aircraft of the same model.
“The Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft fully corresponds to the carrier’s route network connecting the south with the central part of Russia, western Siberia, a number of CIS countries and far abroad,” commented Pavel Ekzhanov, General Director of Azimut Air Company. “In 2020, Azimut Airlines kept the volume of traffic at the level of the previous period, and by the end of 2021 it plans to carry 1.9 million passengers.”
“We are pleased that our aircraft is contributing to increasing the mobility of Russian citizens and are grateful for the government support for the development of the SSJ 100 program,” Yuri Slyusar, General Director of the United Aircraft Corporation.