First An-148 deliveries to commence from 2012 summer
17 Feb 2011
The first shipments of the Ukrainian-Russian Antonov-148 regional passenger jets to India may start in the summer of 2012. This information was made available at the just concluded AeroIndia 2011 air show at Bangalore.
Indian carriers have firm orders for eight passenger version and 10 cargo versions of these aircraft in addition to eleven options.
"The first An-148 planes may be delivered to India as early as next summer. As a condition for this, the validation of the An-148 type certificate is taking place in India. At the meetings which took place during the air show, the parties spoke about the establishment of a centre for aircraft maintenance and the system of after-sale servicing," an Antonov statement said.
Discussions with Indian representatives also took place about the development of the An-178 transport aircraft, An-148VIP and An-168 ABJ planes, the press service said. The possibility of marketing the An-74 aircraft in the Southeast Asia market was also looked at as well as the possibility of the An-74MP (marine patrol) version of the aircraft being offered for a possible Indian Navy tender.
Ukrainian delegates held talks with heads of Indian enterprises, including the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and the Tata Group, ministries, agencies, airlines of India and other countries of Southeast Asia as well as representatives of the Indian Air Force.
Antonov expects to sell 200 aircrafts in Indian market in the next 15 years.
