Tupolev continue with the Tu-414 despite low levels of governemnt funding, but continue to lobby for more

Published: 1/24/2000

Valentin Dmitriev, General Director of Tupolev, has confirmed the design bureau"s new design: a 50-70 seat regional and business jet, designated the Tu-414 and first rumoured in April 1999 will go ahead despite low levels of government support .The aircraft is a development of the Tu-324 regional jet platform, with a longer range of 11,500kms. According to Dmitriev, the aircraft will be produced at Saratov, replacing the Yak-42-120 production line. It will have a cruise speed of 900km/hr. The cost of the programme is estimated to be in the region of $350-400m and the aircraft, with Rybinsk-produced Progress AI-22 engines, will sell for between $11-14m. The Western-powered GE CF-34-3B1 version will cost in the region of $15-20m. The timing for the establishing the line, which Saratov is currently running down as demand for the Yak-42 falls, is not certain, given the need for funding. According to Sergey Kuraev of Tupolev, despite Dmitriev"s comments, the four-year programme although originally intended to go ahead without government funding, is still looking for government assistance. Tupolev"s planners estimate the market for the new aircraft to be between 340-460 although, when questioned more closely about specific customers, the company is less than forthcoming. In 1995, Tupolev unveiled the Tu-324 at the Paris Air Show, as a co-production with KAPO in Kazan and offered three models: VIP, 50-seater and a Rolls Royce-powered 70 seater. The pricing of the aircraft, according to Kazan"s Georguy Samerkhanov in August 1999, would be in the region of $10m. The Tu-324 programme is reported to continue and Dmitriev himself said that, by October 1999, much of the documentation had been delivered to Kazan for prototypes scheduled to fly in 2001. The aircraft was built as a full-scale mock-up for the ill-fated Russian Aviation Consortium tender for regional aircraft. Originally a joint venture between Tatarstan and Russia, Russian government involvement had dwindled to nothing by the middle of last year, yet the participants have continued to look for funding. The regional aircraft market is seen as a key growth area in Russia. Yakolev is in the process of adapting the Yak-42-120 airframe for the Yak-42-90, the ninety-seat variant of Yak"s workhorse at Saratov, which is due to be certified in 2000, in addition to the two upgrades of the Tu-134. The new Tupolev products, regardless of designations, anticipate a strong recovery in the Russian market in terms of financial strength for sales of these levels. The increasing consolidation of the air transport sector, together with the inability of many airlines to keep their aging aircraft in the air, may supply customers in the medium term. It is also not entirely clear whether the Tu-324 and 414 will be produced at the same time. If so, it would seem that the differences between the two aircraft are small. Given current market conditions, the idea of potentially gearing up two production lines seems a curiously spendthrift approach to airliner development for Tupolev and the two producers. As more information emerges, it is hoped that an industrial and commercial logic becomes more evident. Associated articles: www.concise.org 12th December 1997; 4th August 1999; 17th September 1999; 13th January 2000.

Article ID: 1349