Venice (Italy) May 1, 2011
The Sukhoi Superjet 100, flight U8-123, landed in Venice, at Marco Polo airport, at 1.30 p.m. from Yerevan, Armenia, after approximately 4 flight hours.
For the first time the regional jet Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100), developed by Sukhoi Civil Aircraft in partnership with Alenia Aeronautica, arrives in Venice. Namely the Sukhoi Superjet 100 opens weekly flights of Armenian national carrier Armavia to Venice.
The SSJ100 was delivered to Armavia on April 19, 2011 during a ceremony at Zvartnots airport. The aircraft was put into commercial operation within unprecedentedly short time after delivery, having started service on April 20 with flights Erevan – Moscow – Erevan.
The aircraft received the name after the first cosmonaut “Yuri Gagarin” and the tail number EK 95015.
The Sukhoi Superjet 100 has accumulated 24 flights in routes like Yerevan – Athens – Yerevan, Yerevan – Donetsk – Yerevan, Yerevan – Aleppo – Yerevan, Yerevan – Teheran – Yerevan, Yerevan – Tel –Aviv – Yerevan and Yerevan – Simferopol – Yerevan, scoring approx. 50 flight hours.
“The aircraft demonstrates remarkable performance at operation. The flights go without any serious delays. All flights are made in automatic control mode at the altitude of 35000 – 39000ft. The speed is 0,78-0,8M. SSJ100 has got remarkable flight deck ergonomics and control features. It’s easy and comfortable to handle” said Armavia SSJ100 Captain Aram Egoyan.
The SSJ100 Entry Into Service opens a new stage of the Program: the beginning of commercial operation and full-scale serial production. The second aircraft will join Armavia fleet in June 2011.
There are currently 17 aircraft are in serial production at various stages of completion, including 6 in the final assembly shop. This year Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company plans to deliver 13 aircraft in total.
Mr. Carlo Logli, Chief Executive Officer of SuperJet International, was on board of the SSJ100. Upon his arrival in Venice he stated: “It was a great satisfaction flying on board of the Sukhoi Superjet 100. The aircraft is superior for the comfort delivered to its passengers, for the larger cabin, wider seating and more spacious overhead bins.
We are pleased to see the SSJ100 landing at Marco Polo runway, next to the headquarters of SuperJet International. Venice, in fact, is the delivery center for the western Customers. We expect the first delivery to the Mexican airline Interjet for the second half of 2012.
SuperJet International, responsible for the after-sales support, is actively working in order to provide Armavia with a reliable and high-quality after-sales support. At the same time, SuperJet International is providing Armavia with Flight Crew, Cabin Crew and Maintenance staff Training Courses” concluded Mr. Logli.
The Sukhoi Superjet 100 is definitely the first production aircraft of modern Russia, created in partnership with world-wide aerospace leaders. The SSJ100 represents a state-of-the-art aircraft in the 100-seat aircraft segment because of its outstanding characteristics in terms of quality, comfort and operational costs.