MOSCOW, AUGUST 12 (RIA Novosti) - Nikolai Shipil, chief of the Federal Air Transport Agency, thinks that "time has come to buy the know-how for the manufacture of light planes" because, in his view, present Russian light planes are unprofitable and costlier than foreign.
Assessing the state of the Russian aircraft industry, he said that "there are only a few planes fit for sale."
He also said that the Russian industry does not engage in follow-up activities after a plane is sold. They rest with the agency and, therefore, the cost of planes increases manifold.
Shipil is for the integration of Russian airlines so as to provide orders for the aircraft industry.
"Only large airlines can afford having updated formidable machines," he said.
