Aircraft
Kremlin Considers Launching Start-up Airlines To Fly Superjets
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft and lessors want to place “white tail” SSJ100s with airlines.
An Aeroflot Sukhoi SSJ100 takes off from Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport. (Photo: SCAC)
An Aeroflot Sukhoi SSJ100 takes off from Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport. (Photo: SCAC)

Concerned about a lack of commercial interest in the Sukhoi SSJ100 from full-fledged air carriers, the Kremlin has begun looking for ways to place dozens of "white tails" and redundant aircraft with start-up businesses. The proposal calls for the establishment of a so-called Regional Airline—a nationwide operator of indigenous regional- and commuter-class airplanes—and a "Far East Airline” that would serve Eastern Siberia and the Pacific coastline. According to the ministry for industry and trade, each carrier would take up to twenty SSJ100s as a first step.