A Sukhoi Superjet is about to be delivered to its first Western Hemisphere customer, low-cost Mexican airline Interjet.
A Superjet aircraft with the tail number MSN 95023 landed at Venice’s Marco Polo Airport on Monday for its final fit out and livery before making its voyage to Mexico, Interfax reported.
“We are pleased to welcome the first SSJ100 plane for Interjet here in Venice,” said Nazario Cauceglia, acting director of SuperJet International, according to Interfax.
The SSJ100 is a narrow-body passenger aircraft developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau in the Komsomolsk-on-Amur-based Sukhoi Civil Aircraft aviation plant. The aircraft is capable of carrying up to 95 passengers on medium-range routes of up to 4,500 kilometers.
It is part of a $1.4 billion aviation investment program heavily subsidized by the government in hopes of reviving the nearly dead civil aviation industry.
The plane’s reputation was damaged when an airliner suffered a fatal crash in May during a promotional flight in Indonesia. A preliminary crash investigation concluded that the crash was a result of human error.
Interjet is the first Latin American airline to show interest in the Superjet, preordering 15 aircraft in January 2011.
The airline took up the option to purchase five more in July 2012.
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