KIEV, August 28 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine’s Antonov aircraft maker has handed over a third An-158 passenger airliner to Cuba and signed a contract for the delivery of three more, Ukraine’s UNIAN news agency reported Wednesday.
The transfer ceremony took place at the MAKS-2013 international air and space show just outside Moscow.
Ramon Martinez Echevarria, president of the Cuban Civil Aviation Corporation, thanked Russia’s leasing company, Ilyushin Finance Co., and the Antonov aircraft manufacturer for making the deal possible.
The delivery of the other three aircraft has been planned for next year, Echevarria said, adding they will help boost the tourist flow to and from Cuba.
The An-158 is made by Ukraine, but about 60 percent of its components are Russian-produced, Russia’s Minister for Industry and Trade Denis Manturov told a group of aviation students in Moscow in February, which is why – he explained - Russia has an interest in facilitating these deals.
The aircraft also uses components that are French, German and US made, with the share of this last being under the 10 percent cutoff point that would prevent it being sold to Cuba under US sanctions.
