Enthusiasm for development and production (670 words)

Published: 7/17/2000

Sukhoi have already approached Aeroflot with a proposition to acquire the new Alliance regional jet, the StarLiner, according to Valery Okulov, Aeroflot General Director. The negotiations are however, in the very early stages said Okulov in an interview with Concise on 15th July 2000. Other sources however, are reporting that Sukhoi is applying considerable pressure on the Russian flag-carrier to secure a commitment to the programme as early as possible. Its plans for the StarLiner appear to be substantively more ambitious than earlier indications, which suggested a contracting role for Sukhoi's considerable design capability. It appears from reports that if government support is available, AVPK Sukhoi may seek to establish a Starliner production line in Russia. Whether that support would be forthcoming is another matter, given that the government is eager to consolidate resources in as few programmes as politically feasible and appears to have identified the TU-334 as its favoured programme. Sukhoi is to have a new round of negotiations with New Hampshire-based start up Alliance Aircraft at Farnborough, where the sides are expected to sign a comprehensive agreement on the StarLiner development. The reason for the heavier than expected commitment from Sukhoi appears to come from the company's view that the RSK MiG/ANTK Tupolev Tu-334 project, which it is reported to be monitoring very closely and despite early pessimism, has seen strong potential in the burgeoning regional jet market as defined by the Teal Group, a source Sukhoi is reported to be following very closely. The group's recent study on civil and military aircraft markets, made public at ILA'2000, seems to have given Sukhoi even more confidence in the StarLiner and the S-21 supersonic business jet projects. In part this enthusiasm for civil development is a reflection of the realisation by the company that long-term prospects for military aircraft, both domestically and internationally, are limited. Last year, General Designer Simonov said that despite the attractive unit price of fighter aircraft, the volume prospects of supersonic business jet made it infinitely more attractive in the current climate. The other motivation for higher than expected interest in StarLiner may also be due to the fact that the Sukhoi headline civilian programme, the S80 twin-boom utility aircraft, is reported to be experiencing technical difficulties as it goes through its flight testing in Moscow. The aircraft is also receiving little in the way of commercial interest, requiring Sukhoi to find a more attractive and viable civil programme. With Aeroflot's commitment, Sukhoi would gain considerable negotiating muscle with its potential partner in Alliance and will also gain a customer capable of paying, a problem for the S-80 as its customers are likely to be in the worst financed and least commercially successful segment of the air transport market in Russia. Russia's larger carriers have for some time expressed their need to replace the ageing fleets of 70-seat Tu-134 and 30-seat Yak-40 and have equally criticised Tupolev for not listening to them when they were designing the Tu-334, which leaves the aircraft weak in a number of areas according to operators. This may give a potential opening to the market despite its seemingly late arrival, all though according to Alliance, its first aircraft will be ready within the next three years, which will mean that the time advantage that the Tu-334 has could be eroded quite quickly. For Aeroflot it seems most likely that the company will select only one regional jet. Furthermore, Okulov has stressed many times that the airline will agree to order new Russian aircraft only if its manufacturers are able to supply their products on lease terms, together with valid licenses and a viable model of the aircraft's profitable operation. To date, Ilyushin/TAPO are reported to have been unable to do this with the Il-114 and Antonov/Kharkov have yet to come up with a leasing structure. RSK MiG already have Aeroflot expressing an interest in 20 RR powered Tu-334s, although further progress as ever remains contingent on a leasing structure.

Article ID: 1945