Sukhoi fixes SSJ100 bugs for Iran

TEHRAN, Feb. 13 (MNA) – An official of Iran's Aviation Companies Association, while pointing to Sukhoi’ correspondence with Iran, said the Russian firm has resolved technical issues of Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) and received the aircraft's airworthiness certificate. Maghsoud Asadi-Samani said in view of willingness of some private Iranian airlines for signing contracts with Sukhoi Company, the Russian side, in a letter to Iran's Aviation Companies Association, has announced that technical issues with empennage of SSJ100 passenger plane have been addressed. The manufacturing company of SSJ100 has obtained a certificate from the Continuing Airworthiness Management Organization (CAMO) as well as that its flight capabilities have been approved by State Civil Aviation Authority of Russia (SCAA). He further noted that Sukhoi Company was seeking OFAC a license from Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for presence in Iran’s aviation industry in a bid to launch cooperation with eager Iranian airlines. Asadi-Samani went on to underlined that emphasized that arrival of SSJ100 in Iran’s market was subject to receiving necessary permits from Civil Aviation Organization of Islamic Republic of Iran (CAO.IRI) as well as specific license of OFAC. He stated that despite Donald Trump’s harsh stances against Iran, jet purchase contracts with Airbus and Boeing were being implemented uninterruptedly hence the possibility for Sukhoi to receive OFAC licenses. The official recalled that SSJ100 remained as an option for Iranian airliners adding “two private firms are after hiring and not purchasing the aircraft since it needs to demonstrates its capabilities in Iran’s climate during its tenancy. Asadi-Samani asserted that airlines of Iran therefore preferred to lease SSJ100 before finalizing decision on its purchase. On December 23, 2016, Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency demanded to check all SSJ 100 aircraft, after cracks had been found in the lugs of the stabilizer upper and lower bracket attachment bands. The issue was discovered during a routine inspection of IrAero aircraft. Sukhoi Civil Aircraft company (SCAC) reported the completion of checking the entire Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft fleet for cracks in the stabilizer attachment bands and promised that the replacement of the units on such aircraft will be completed before the end of January. In general, after analyzing the total SSJ 100 fleet check results SCAC concluded that the defect in stabilizer attachment bands is not systematic. The Sukhoi Superjet 100 is a modern fly-by-wire twin-engine regional jet with up to 108 (all economy) passenger seats. With development initiated in 2000, the airliner was designed and spearheaded by Sukhoi, a division of the Russian civil aerospace company (UAC), in co-operation with several foreign partners. The total accumulated flying hours of all SSJ 100 in five years equals to 171 702 flight hours or 117,769 flight cycles. The average time of flight was 1 hour 28 minutes, which is a good result on regional routes, for which it was created. In addition, it can operate a maximum of six flights per day in all Iranian airports given the diverse geographic conditions. Now, despite the fact that SCAC has made correspondence with Iran stating that the technical issues have been resolved, the possibility exists that desire of Iranian airlines to cooperate with the Russian company will not be as strong as it was earlier.