TAGANROG, September 28 (AVN) - The Beriev Air Scientific and Techincal Complex in the southern Russian city of Taganrog has begun testing the new Be-200 plane-amphibia .
The amphibia has aleady made 54 flights from an overland aerodrome and spent a total of 60 hours in the air. The main client for Be-200 is the Russian Emergency Ministry, which plans to purchase eight Be-200s before 2005. They are supposed to be sent to sea emergency centres.
The Irkutsk Airplane Manufacturing Alliance is now making first four planes of this kind for the Emergency Ministry. According to experts, the demand for Be-200 on the Russian market is estimated at 115 planes.