We Lack $100 Million to Fly Abroad

Tu-334 chief designer Igor Kalygin said this aircraft is to replace the Tu-134, out of production since 1984. A joint project for the former was already drawn up a decade ago. The Tu-334 was designed as a medium-haul aircraft with a range up to 2,000 kilometers.

Work has been in fact completed on this 102-seat plane, the first in a pilot series of five, rolled out at Zhukovsky. Also in the pipeline is a 110-seat and even a 126-seat version.

According to Mr. Kalygin, the project is very promising. Orders for 200 planes have already been received from 24 air companies. One liner costs up to $40 million. However, these are only dreams so far, for the whole program requires from $80 to $100 million. Only given such investment the aircraft may be put into serial production in two and a half to three years.

If the situation is normal, 40% of the orders for the engine will be received by Motor-Sich. Vyacheslav Bohuslayev, general manager of Motor-Sich, commenting on the Zhukovsky show, noted that Ukraine badly needs this kind of aircraft. For we are a European state, and foreign countries are reluctant to let in our old airplanes with their obsolete engines.