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.
"This year we will produce about 10 aircraft...but in the next three years we may be able to produce up to 60 planes annually," Mikhail Pogosyan said in a Monday interview with Expert, a Russian business magazine.
Sukhoi 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.
So far the company has secured 73 solid orders for the aircraft and announced last Friday that it would sign a contract for another 30 planes with an undisclosed Russian carrier on July 15 during the Farnborough 2008 air show, which opened on Monday in the south of England.
The airliner made its first test flights in May and Sukhoi is planning to start Superjet 100 deliveries to clients in the second half of 2009.
"We will do everything to meet the delivery schedule," Pogosyan said.
Russian flagship carrier Aeroflot said on July 10 it had received notice from the Sukhoi holding that deliveries originally scheduled for 2008 would be postponed until the third quarter of 2009.
Pogosyan said Sukhoi is planning to gain 15-17% of the world's market of regional aircraft in the future.
"I think the goal to capture 15-17% of the global market of regional aircraft is quite attainable for our company," he said.
Sukhoi, which is part of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation, currently sells only military aircraft. It is well-known for its Su-family of fighters, including the new Su-35 Flanker-E multirole fighter, which successfully completed its first demonstration flight on July 7. (VIDEO)
The company said last Friday it plans to have an equal balance in the share of civilian and military aviation in its production portfolio by 2015.
