IRKUTSK. Aug 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Customers will begin receiving Russia's new Superjet 100 regional passenger airplanes at the end of 2009 or at the start of 2010, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov told journalists in Irkutsk on Friday.
"The plans of the [United Aircraft] Corporation and a number of other organizations allow us to expect that the Superjet will make its first flight and will reach air carriers in late 2009 or early 2010," Ivanov said.
All certification tests of this plane are in their final stages now, the deputy prime minister said.
Russia's Aeroflot (RTS: AFLT) and Armenia's Armavia will be among the first airlines to purchase such airplanes, he said.
Addressing the prospects of the MS-21 airplane, Ivanov said that "this plane will be better than modern Boeing and Airbus planes with the same passenger capacity," Ivanov said.
MS-21 airplanes are intended to replace Tupolev Tu-154 planes, the official said.
It should be designed from scratch and use military aircraft technologies, he added.
A record number of contracts were signed during the recent MAKS 2009 air show, Ivanov said, adding that this year's exhibition was unique because all deals signed during it envision the delivery of aircraft for the Russian Air Force or domestic air carriers.
"It will provide the Russian aircraft manufacturing sector with a long-awaited package of orders for many years to come," he said.