Adria Airways abandons plan to re-fleet with Superjets

摘要

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC) has seen the prospect of its Superjet SSJ100 operating in Europe dim following Adria Airways' decision to abandon plans to expand its fleet with 15 of the Russian regional jets. The Slovenian carrier in November last year signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with SCAC to add 15 SSJ100s via a long-term lease arrangement and an MOU to establish a joint MRO operation at Ljubljana Airport. It expected deliveries to start at the beginning of this year, but the Star Alliance airline on Tuesday communicated that its shareholders and management had agreed not to continue with the SCAC partnership and Superjet acquisitions. While stressing that the aircraft type "per se still seems very attractive," Adria Airways pointed to "growing concerns about SCAC's commitment to a fair and stable long-term partnership as well as lacking a common vision of further strategic development of the company" for its inability to finalize the contractual clauses with the Russian company.