Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet 100 Business Class Moscow to Kiev [AirClips full flight series]
The
Sukhoi Superjet 100 is a modern fly-by-wire twin-engine regional jet with 8 (
VIP) to
108 (all Y) passenger seats. With development initiated in
2000, the airliner was designed and spearheaded by Sukhoi, a division of the
Russian civil aerospace company (
UAC), in co-operation with several foreign partners. Its maiden flight was conducted on 19 May 2008. On 21
April 2011, the
Superjet 100 undertook its first commercial passenger flight, on the Armavia route from
Yerevan to
Moscow.
Designed to compete internationally with its
An-158, Embraer and
Bombardier counterparts, the Superjet 100 claims substantially lower operating costs, at a lower purchase price of $35 million.
The final assembly of the Superjet 100 is done by
Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association. Its SaM-146 engines are designed and produced by the French-Russian PowerJet joint venture and the aircraft is marketed internationally by the Italian-Russian
SuperJet International joint venture.
Development of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 began in 2000. On
19 December 2002, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft and
Boeing Commercial Airplanes signed a medium-term Cooperation
Agreement to work together on the design. Boeing consultants had already been advising Sukhoi on marketing, design, certification, manufacturing, program management and aftersales support for a year. On
10 October 2003, the technical board of the project selected the suppliers of major subsystems.
The project officially passed its third stage of development on 12
March 2004, meaning that Sukhoi could now start selling the Superjet 100 to customers. On
13 November 2004, the Superjet 100 passed the fourth stage of development, implying that the Superjet 100 was now ready for commencing of prototype production. In
August 2005, a contract between the
Russian government and Sukhoi was signed. Under the agreement, the Superjet 100 project would receive 7.9 billion rubles of research and development financing under the
Federal Program titled Development of
Civil Aviation in
Russia in
2005–2009
.
In the Russian domestic market, the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (
SSJ) is intended to replace the aging
Tupolev Tu-134 and
Yakovlev Yak-42 aircraft. Internationally, the new Superjet 100 will compete against the
Embraer E-Jets and the
Bombardier CRJ programs. The SSJ aims for lower operating costs than its competitors for the price of $23–25 million. According to Sukhoi, ongoing certification tests confirmed that the aircraft's direct operating costs are 6–8% lower than those of its key competitor, the
Embraer 190/195. In terms of total fuel burn per sector, the SSJ is on a par with the
Antonov An-148 but can accommodate 22 more passengers.
The aircraft's design meets the specific requirements of airlines in Russia, the
CIS, the
USA and the EU, and conforms to the
Aviation Rules AP-25,
FAR-25, JAR-25 requirements and to the ground noise level requirements under
ICAO Chapter 4 and
FAR 36
Section 4 standards entering into force during
2006. From the beginning, the SSJ has been designed to meet all
Western aviation standards.
The Superjet uses
PowerJet SaM146 turbofan engines developed by PowerJet that provide 60 to 78 kilonewtons (13,
000 to 18,000 lbf) of thrust. The noise and emissions levels satisfy the existing ICAO requirements.
The Superjet 100 has been described as the most important and successful civil aircraft program of the
Russian aerospace industry. It enjoys considerable support from the Russian
Ministry of Industry and Trade, which regards it as a top priority project. Excluding the SaM146 engine, development of the Superjet 100 cost about $1.4 billion, with 25% of this amount funded from the federal budget. The Superjet 100 is the first new civil non-amphibious jet aircraft developed in post-Soviet Russia.
Over 30 foreign partnership companies are involved in the project. Development, manufacturing and marketing of the aircraft's SaM146 jet engine is being done by the PowerJet company, a joint-venture between the
French Snecma and Russia's
NPO Saturn. SuperJet International, a joint venture between
Alenia Aermacchi and Sukhoi is responsible for marketing in
Europe, the
Americas,
Africa,
Japan and
Oceania.
The assembly line for all versions of the Superjet is located in the facilities of Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association (KnAAPO) in the
Russian Far East, while
Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association (
NAPO) focuses on component production. The two companies have been heavily investing in upgrading of their facilities and were expected to produce 70 airframes by
2012.