First the Canadians, now the Russians. The Itar-Tass news agency reports that Yakovlev, Tupolev, and Ilyushin are pooling their resources to develop a single-aisle jet that would compete with Boeing’s 737-700 and -800 and Airbus’ A320 and A321.
Key Quote: “The project is financed from the federal budget. The certification of the plane is scheduled for 2012.”
Here’s the link: http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=2326735&PageNum=0
A couple of off-the-cuff thoughts (which may be dangerous, given how little coffee I’ve consumed this morning):
* This would kind of shoot a hole in Boeing’s Russia strategy. The company’s been sinking money into Russia in hopes of capturing a big share of the airliner business there, but if those three design bureaus are building a state-funded airplane, that’s going to severely slice into Boeing’s potential sales.
* Last time I talked with anyone in-the-know about Russian aerospace, the feeling seemed to be that while Russian aerospace engineers are brilliant, Russian manufacturing has problems. So it’ll be interesting to see whether this plane gets built.
And here’s a Reuters story that looks at Rolls Royce as it tries to get into the Russian market: http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/32091/story.htm
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
