The firm contract on delivery of three An-148-100E aircraft to Angara airlines has been signed by VASO, the subsidiary of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), and Ilyushin Finance & Co. leasing company. All three jets will be delivered to the carrier in 2012, press-service of UAC reports. AEX.ru

"Angara Airlines is one of the main regional carriers in Eastern Siberia. At present the airline performs charter flights to Russian cities and regular flights in Irkutsk Region and across Siberian Federal District. An-148 aircraft allows expanding of the carriers route network and developing the regional transportation in such regions as Yakutsk, Novosibirsk, Blagoveshensk and Khabarovsk", - UAC noted.

It is the second firm order for An-148 aircraft placed by a leasing company. Taking this contract into account, the total UAC’s backlog for An-148 aircraft has increased to 19 jets. Now UAC is negotiating with several customers on deliveries of additional 20 vehicles. In case of placing additional orders, VASO would be able to expand its production program and provide additional slots on deliveries of the jets in 2013, the corporation explained.

The increase of An-148 backlog will help VASO keep the output stable and it will also provide stable workload for the factory in the nearest future. An-148 aircraft have shown good results on regional and short-haul routes of Rossiya Airlines. At that the monthly average flight time per jet was 320 hours in December 2011.