In late December 2013 the Minister of Industry and Trade, Denis Manturov, said during his interview at “Russia 24” TV channel that the Ministry plans to deliver 20 Tu-204SM aircraft to Russian and foreign carriers over the next 5 years. However, it is rumored that the top management of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) have banned their employees from working on the 204SM project under penalty of dismissal. The UAC’s attitude towards the project was demonstrated at MAKS-2013 airshow, when not a single representative of UAC’s management attended the signing of two contracts for delivery of Tu-204. It was clear: the contracts were signed in order to present a report to the government, but in fact no one was going to implement them. And UAC’s program at the airshow did not include the presentation of the new recently certified aircraft. It remained in the aircraft static display area overlooked by high-ranking guests and mass media. However, we did not miss the opportunity to visit Tu-204SM and talk to representatives of legendary Tupolev design bureau. We had just one question: what is Tu-204SM?

Interview with Deputy Chief Designer (Aerodynamics) of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC), Alexey Dolotovski

Voronezh airframers may be proud of being directly relevant to the process of Russia’s return to the list of world’s largest aviation countries – An-148 jets continue to scale new heights. The total flying time of 15 An-148s almost reached 70 thousand hours in late October. These aircraft performed over 36 thousands flights.

Last summer the Russia’s largest civil aircraft lessor signed a great number of firm contracts and agreements with different airframers. For example, during MAKS-2013 airshow Ilyushin Finance & Co. (IFC) signed for a total of 92 aircraft (having signed lease agreements with carriers only for 64 liners). The task of finding customers for the rest vehicles was given to a new management team, which comprises residents of foreign countries. The journalists from AEX.RU discussed the matter with Stewart R. Cordner, International Sales and Marketing Director of IFC.

At the end of November 2013, the Antonov design house of Ukraine issued a statement that its specialists were preparing documents that would later be submitted to the aviation authorities with request for complementary certificates uplifting current operational limitations for the An-158. The effort is aimed at winning permits for commercial operations out of hot-and-high airports for this hundred-seat jetliner.

Interview with the Ka-52 helicopter crew at the Paris Air Show 2013: Alexander Cherednichenko, test pilot from Kamov Design Bureau, and Mikhail Pavlenko, holder of the state award Honored Test Pilot of Russia.

Interview with CEO of Ilyushin Finance & Co. (IFC)

Interview with Sergey Bogdan, test-pilot of Sukhoi Design Bureau.

The visit of the Russian delegation to Canada a contract was signed between the Ilyushin Finance Co. (IFC) and Bombardier to supply 300 aircraft CSeries.

The interview of the head of Rosoboronexport’s department for analysis and advanced planning, Sergey Svechnikov, about the prospects of Russian military-industrial sector (MIS) and aircraft industry in Latin America. The conversation took place at the International Aerospace Exhibition FIDAE-2012, which was held on March 27th - April 1st in Santiago, the capital of Chile.