An-140 orders announced by Ukraine, but sources express doubts whether they are 'real' orders

Published: 1/19/2000

The first buyer of the An-140 appears to be emerging, although not without some classic debate as to whether the order is real or not. The buyer is reported to be Ikar Airlines, of Kiev, with an order of ten aircraft, to be delivered in 2000 and leased over a period of ten years. The lease, according to Ikar, has negotiated with the Kharkov Trade House, based on a price for the aircraft of $7-8m. The aircraft will be produced at the Kharkov Aviation Plant (KhGAPP) and at Aviakor, and will join the initial An-140s to be delivered to IAIC in Iran, as part of an ongoing license production deal. This will produce an aircraft, designated as Iran-140, at the company"s Isfahan facility. The constructors estimate that the market in Iran totals 120 aircraft, with 500-600 in the CIS. According to KhGAPP, the aircraft will be certified in the first quarter of 2000 and final design work is being funded by a combination of Ukrainian state and designer resources. The amount of money required for complete certification is reported to be in the region of $20m, although the figure appears to be on the high side. Aviakor expects to have the aircraft certified in Russia by April 2000, but unlike its Kharkov partners, it is not revealing its first customers, although the rumours are that these will include Sakhaavia and Tyumenaviatrans. Bankrupt Sakhaavia is now struggling financially and seems an unlikely buyer at present, although the An-140 is currently undertaking low temperature trials in Batagai, Yakutiya: Saakhavia"s home region. The airline as also recently merged with Yakutsky Airlines in something of a shotgun marriage, the latter being in the process of buying An-24, which one assumes is a low cost option. The announcement of the order has created something of a debate in aerospace circles. Some claim that the Kharkov Trade Company, as a subsidiary of the aviation plant, does not have the resources to fund the leases of ten aircraft and that the earlier announcement of orders was simply a piece of one-upmanship on its Russian partners. According to the Vedomosti newspaper, it may also fuel an ongoing argument within the partnership, as to where the sales and maintenance base for the aircraft might be based. It is supposed that the plant that moves into serial production first will get the facility. The public airing of the disagreement within the partnership has, however, provoked a circling of the wagons, with both sides now claiming not only that Kharkov Trade House has the funds, but that there is complete accord between the parties on timing and orders.

Article ID: 1330