Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 2
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran has announced that it is no longer interested in purchasing Russia's Sukhoi Superject 100 passenger aircraft, due to technical problems.
Purchase of the aircraft is no more on the agenda, Secretary of Association of Iranian Airlines Maqsoud Asadi Samani said, Mehr news agency reported Jan. 2.
He further said that the plane is not well-known to Iranian airline companies, adding that the superjet suffers from a technical problem with its tail.
Asadi Samani added that only three Iranian private airline companies have held talks with Russian aircraft manufacturer over leasing the plane.
He said that the companies even may withdraw from renting the aircraft if the technical problem proves to be serious.
Earlier Asadi Samani said that Iranian airlines are interested in purchasing the superjet, which was introduced to Iranian airliners on Dec. 13, 2016.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin had said Moscow may deliver a big batch of Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger aircraft to Iran by 2020.
Sukhoi Superjet 100 is a 75-seat and 95-seat passenger plane being produced since 2000 commissioned for flights services by the airlines from 2008.
A total of 64 Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft are currently in service, according to Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (SCA) data. The largest aircraft operators are Aeroflot (26 airplanes), Mexico's Interjet (19) and Gazpromavia (10 jets).
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