(Source: http://economicsandwe.com)

Russia and the People’s Republic of China signed an agreement on the establishment of a leasing company that will deal with promotion of the passenger airliner Sukhoi Superjet-100 (SSJ-100) at the Chinese market, as well as in the countries of the South-East Asia.

This is stated in a press release of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) received by “Lenta.Ru”. The contract was signed on May 8 within the framework of the visit of the President of PRC Xi Jinping to Moscow. The consortium of investors will include the manufacturer Superjet (“Sukhoi Civil Aircrafts” or “SCA”), the UAC, the Russian-Chinese investment fund, the Management Committee of the New Area of Xixian and the Chinese company “New Century International Leasing”.

The headquarters of the leasing company will be located on the territory of the industrial park in the city of Xixian (Shaanxi Province). According to the agreements, in three years the new structure will acquire 100 of SSJ-100 aircrafts costing about three billion dollars from “Sukhoi Civil Aircrafts” CJSC. The UAC pointed out that the amount of the contract “was more than two times higher than the total number of aircrafts which were currently delivered to the customers”. In April it was reported that against the background of the financial problems associated with the program of production of Superjet-100 the UAC and the Italian Alenia started negotiations about the merger of the two joint ventures – “Sukhoi Civil Aircrafts” and “Superjet International”.

It was noted that the UAC and Alenia had not yet managed to ensure large-scale sales of SSJ-100, however, SCA whose debt reached $ 2.6 billion at the end of the first half of 2014 requires constant state support. Mexico is one of the first countries that acquired SSJ-100 aircrafts and actively exploits them on its routes. In 2014 the management of the national carrier Interjet increased the number of the ordered aircrafts from 20 to 30 units (14 aircrafts have already been delivered). This company now stays the only major foreign customer of Superjet.

Three aircrafts are operated by Indonesian Sky Aviation, one – by Lao Central Airlines. The experts of the aviation industry previously reported to “Lenta.ru” that the promotion of the Russian short-haul aircrafts Superjet to international markets was hindered by the lack of an extensive network of after-sales service, high rates of lease payments and competition of Canada’s Bombardier and Brazil’s Embraer offering a whole range of aircrafts from 70 to 110 seats.

Sukhoi Superjet 100 manufactured by “Sukhoi Civil Aircrafts” is capable of carrying from 75 to 95 passengers to a distance of 4550 kilometers. Production capacities of the UAC enterprises allow to manufacture up to 60 SSJ-100 aircrafts per year. The first flight of the liner was operated in May 2008. A total 197 orders for the Superjet has been executed today, 49 copies are delivered to customers. The largest buyer of the aircrafts is “Aeroflot”.