It apopears however, that only one can pay (396 words)

Published: 4/4/2001

According to a report in the Russian media a contract has been signed for the delivery of three IL-114-100s to a customer in South East Asia and Ilyushin are in the process of translating cockpit controls into English and some changes to software for the operator according to Alexei Talikov of Ilyushin. Talikov said that the three Il-114-100 will be equipped with a new avionics suite TsNPKO-114, which will be tested in the next two months requiring some 3-4 flights. There are three Il-114-100 in the final assembly facility at TAPO. According to sources however, there is a slight conflict in which operator gets the first aircraft. Uzbek although first in the queue, are reported not to have the money to pay. The unnamed South East Asian operator, based in Singapore, which has been brought in by Avaistar Asia Corporation (AAC) however, does have the money and have signed contracts with P&WC for the engines. Sources report however, that Uzbekistan Airlines are exerting pressure on TAPO through the Uzbek government to get the first three aircraft, despite the fact that the airframes were funded by TAPO. Vadim Kucherov ,General Director of TAPO is reported to favour selling the aircraft to the Singaporeans , but wants “keep his job” according to a source. AAC are said to be proposing a meeting between the three sides to find a compromise. The certification of the IL-114T is expected to be completed by autumn 2001 and recently flew from Tashkent to Zhukovsky for certification tests. In total, Talikov says that there are two Il-114Ts in final production at TAPO in addition to the two already built, one of which crashed. With a further “6-7” airframes “40%” completed in the facility, which Talikov says has the capacity to build 120 aircraft a year. Talikov also that TAPO has signed an additional contract with a Russian airline for a further three Il-114 with TV7-117S engines, although this is thought to be a MoU. Avaistar Asia Corporation (AAC) presence in the deal is the first we have heard of the organization that involves Henril Konarkowski of Konversult , for some time. The company that is charged with the marketing of the Il-114,Tu-204,Il-103,An-38,Mi-17 and Kazan Ansat and was reported be establishing a facility for maintenance of Russina aircraft in Bangkok in August 1999, but little has been heard about its activities since that point.

Article ID: 2458