MOSCOW, May 21 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will conclude contracts on the procurement of up to 100 SuperJet-100 regional passenger aircraft by the end of 2007, a first deputy prime minister said Monday.
"Even conservative estimates show that we will sell 100 aircraft under confirmed orders," Sergei Ivanov said at a government meeting.
He said contracts to supply 61 SuperJet planes had been concluded so far, and that Aeroflot [RTS: AFLT], Russia's largest air carrier, would sign a new deal Tuesday on the supply of an additional 15 aircraft with Sukhoi Civil Aircraft.
"The deliveries of [additional] 15 SuperJet aircraft will start in May of 2011," Ivanov said.
On March 20, Sukhoi said it would start supplying SuperJet-100 aircraft to Aeroflot under previous contracts by late 2008 to replace its aging fleet of Tu-134s and Tu-154s.
Earlier reports said that Aeroflot was planning to buy a total of 50 SuperJet-100 aircraft.
The Sukhoi SuperJet-100 belongs to a series of RRJ (Russian Regional Jet)-type planes, with a seating capacity of 60 to 95, which is being developed by Sukhoi, NPO Saturn, Snecma and Boeing.
The RRJ market is estimated at 5,400-5,600 until 2023, which amounts to around $100 billion in sales. Sukhoi plans to make at least 700 SuperJet-100 planes, with the first six planes due later this year.
According to forecasts, 35% of the aircraft could be sold in North America, 25% in Europe, 10% in Latin America, and 7% in Russia and China.
