Tu-204SM aircraft got its second chance in light of development of air transportation between Russian cities and Crimea. It was stated by the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Yuri Slusar, on August 15th at the opening of International Air Transport Forum in Ulyanovsk Region, press-service of the governor and the government of Ulyanovsk Region reports.

We remind you that one of the major topics of this forum is establishment of a center for development of transport aircraft in the region.

The opening ceremony was attended by the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Yuri Slusar; Executive Vice-President of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), Alexander Tulyakov; head of EMERCOM aviation administration, Radik Asilbaev; member of the Federation Council of constituent of the Russian Federation, Gennady Savinov. Governor of the Ulyanovsk Region, Sergey Morozov, congratulated participants and visitors with the opening of the forum, the press-service added.

«I would like to thank the Chairman of the government of Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, for supporting this event as well as his deputy – Dmitry Rogozin, who is dealing with all the matters related to aviation and Ulyanovsk Aviation Cluster. I am confident that such events will help us solve a number of problems, establish contacts and cooperate in future. I believe that we need to leave the competition between clusters behind and move to the full-scale integration focused on achieving results. We must establish cooperation between clusters and keep strengthening the positions of Russian industry», - the governor said.

He also proposed to elaborate a program called “Aviation Nation” on the basis of Association of aviation regions. In addition, the organization’s activities must be supported by an expert council.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Yuri Slusar, said that position of regional authorities is very important for development of aviation and aircraft industry. «I would like to admit that Tu-204SM aircraft manufactured by Ulyanovsk aviation plant got another chance in light of establishment of a new airline in Crimea. We plan to manufacture 11 jets of the type and deliver the vehicles to the carrier; the airline may even get a discount», - Yuri Slusar admitted.

The possibility of establishing a center for development of transport aircraft in Ulyanovsk Region was also discussed at the ceremony. According to Sergey Morozov, it will be the largest infrastructure and industrial innovative project aimed at reconstruction of the national aircraft industry in the transport aircraft segment. This means that the region will create the most comfortable conditions for aviation business (including legal basis and infrastructure).

«In order to solve this problem we are going to consolidate our design bureaus (we have five ones), develop research departments and material processing centers, create a number of industrial park parks focused on aircraft industry and assure the full cycle of personnel training. Actually we have all the necessary capabilities – production, scientific and educational basis. Our current goal is to find the missing elements and establish cooperation with Russian and foreign companies using the capabilities of the port special economic zone, Zavolzhye industrial zone and other infrastructure projects», - the governor added.