Antonov design bureau, which developed An-148 aircraft, handed over all the documentation required for development of An-148T transport aircraft to United Aircraft Corporation (UAC).  Possibly, the new liner will be assembled by VASO, the manufacturer of An-148 aircraft, Abireg reports with reference to a deputy of the State Duma representing Voronezh Region, Sergey Gavrilov.

According to him, Ilyushin design bureau will likely develop the transport version of the aircraft. After that a manufacturer of the vehicle will be selected. Possibly, the Voronezh-based enterprise (VASO) will launch the serial production of this aircraft. Gavrilov believes that VASO is the most suitable candidate, because it is carrying out the assembly of An-148 jets (passenger version).

However, at present the enterprise is preparing to resume the development of light military-transport Il-112 aircraft for the Ministry of Defense. We remind you that this is the second attempt of the Ministry to provide VASO with workload in the network of this project. The assembly of test aircraft of the type was being carried out by VASO earlier, however, the Ministry decided to put the assembly on hold in mid-2010. According to some experts, the chances are pretty slim that the project will be started and the serial production of Il-112 will be launched.

According to Sergey Gavrilov, VASO should manufacture An-148T in order to make the best use of its production facilities. Moreover, the Ministry of Defense may be the launch customer of An-148T providing some advantages for the enterprise. The market capacity for the jet is about 150 ones. If VASO is selected as a manufacturer of An-148T, the first jet will be delivered to a customer in 2017 and the serial production will be launched in 2020.