MOSCOW, May 12 (RIA Novosti) - A new midrange Russian passenger plane could bring in orders for up to 1,200 aircraft, the head of the Federal Agency for Industry said Friday.
"The Russian Regional Jet (RRJ) marketing program has been increased to 900 aircraft, but this is not a limit," Boris Alyoshin said. "We could certainly speak of about 1,200 planes."
The RRJ project is a family of medium-range passenger aircraft developed by the Sukhoi aircraft holding in cooperation with major American and European aviation corporations, including Boeing, Snecma, Thales, Messier Dowty, Liebherr Aerospace, and Honeywell.
Although Sukhoi is probably better known in the West for its military aircraft, it hopes the RRJ will become the first Russian-made civilian plane to be successfully exported.
"By 2010, we are planning to manufacture 50-60 [RRJ] aircraft annually, or one plane per week," said Dmitry Matsenov, the holding's deputy general director on strategic development.
Sukhoi has signed a number of contracts for RRJ supplies, worth more than $1 billion. In December 2005, national carrier Aeroflot (RTS: AFLT) and Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, a subsidiary of the Sukhoi holding, signed an $820-million deal for 30 RRJ planes.
The deal should be approved by Aeroflot shareholders at an extraordinary meeting May 16.
"There is no doubt that the [RRJ] deal will be approved by [Aeroflot] shareholders," Aeroflot General Director Valery Okulov said Friday, adding that the first deliveries of the aircraft should start in 2008.
Aeroflot currently operates a fleet of 90 passenger planes. The company serves over 80 foreign destinations in almost 50 countries, and is a member of the Sky Team Alliance, which includes ten carriers from three continents.
