The An-148 passenger aircraft began operation in June, 2009, first in Ukraine and six months later in Russia. But three years later, only 14 aircraft were in operation (as of autumn 2012 - P.2): six aircraft are part of Rossiya Airlines, two are from Polet, and three more An-148 are registered in Ukrainian airline "International Airlines of Ukraine".
Three more aircraft must be transferred to the Russian airline Angara (two aircraft were transferred to 2012 - P.2), which ordered five aircraft and placed an option for five more vehicles.
The An-148 average monthly flight time on Russia is 300 hours, which is a pretty good indicator for a new regional aircraft. In early September, the company transported the million-passenger to the An-148, although a month earlier, the new owner of the company Rossiya, Aeroflot, announced that it would not choose the previously concluded option for nine An-148.
The company Polet, which puts the An-148 on charter flights, also stopped new purchases after receiving only two out of ten ordered aircraft. The first foreign customer, the Myanmar Ministry of Defense, also canceled the contract for the purchase of An-148 after the crash of the first aircraft during a test flight in March of 2011.
Problems
The An-148 program lacks orders, currently there are only six ordered aircraft: two each for the Angara, the Presidential Aviation Squadron and the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Three more aircraft (and 12 as an option) must be delivered to customers in Latin America. In July, the Russian leasing company IFC signed a contract with Panama South American Leasing for three An-158 (intended for Cubana de Aviacion), as well as an option for seven An-148 and five additional An-158.
Execution of orders associated with difficulties. The first production aircraft were produced at Svyatoshyn (Antonov serial production plant, Kiev), but in order to speed up deliveries for the Russian market, licensed production was organized at the Voronezh Aircraft Building Joint-Stock Company.
The production plans for the An-148 are in complete disarray. In September, the author visited the final assembly shop of the Antonov company in Svyatoshyn, in which there were only three An-148 and two An-158. They employed no more than a dozen workers.
According to the company’s president, Antonov Dmitry Kiva, the main problem hindering the production of An-148 is lack of funds. The company needs 300 million dollars to launch serial production of the series in 20-25 aircraft.
But Antonov has difficulties in obtaining loans, as the company is state-owned. Kiva expects that the situation may change due to the creation of a joint venture with Russia. The joint venture will be responsible for implementing the An-148 production program, and obtaining loans will become an easier task.
Fighting "Superjet"
The unhappy fate of the regional An-148 aircraft was due to the simultaneous launch of another Russian project, the Sukhoi Superjet 100. Some modifications of these aircraft are direct competitors. The basic version of the An-148-100 is designed for 80 seats and is not a direct equivalent of the 98-local Superjet, unlike the 99-local An-158. The proposed modification Antonov Business Jet also has a competitor to the development of the company “Sukhoi” - the project SBJ, Sukhoi Business Jet.
KLA head Mikhail Poghosyan, who is also the main one in the Superjet project, recently announced that the basic version of the An-148 will remain in the KLA order portfolio, taking the place of an unrealized shortened version of the Superjet under the index 100-75. However, an extended version of the An-158 will not be produced in Russia, because of the difficulties in entering the Russian market of commercial aviation.
Original publication: Slow Developer Air International, December 2012 - Piotr Butowski
Translation by Andrei Frolov
Translation by Andrei Frolov