Sukhoi may set up production of small aircraft for the Indian market

The Indian authorities are negotiating with several global aircraft manufacturers at once to establish the production of small aircraft for the needs of the local market. Among the government’s potential partners are the Russian holding Sukhoi, the Brazilian Embraer and ATR, a joint venture between Airbus and the Italian Leonardo. This is reported with reference to its own sources. Bloomberg.

According to the agency, for the production of aircraft with a capacity of less than 100 people, a joint venture between the government of India and a foreign partner will be created. The state will own 51% of the shares of the Indian company, and the production itself will most likely be established in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi – Gujarat.

So far, according to agency sources, the Indian government has completed preliminary negotiations only with Embraer, and Sukhoi has expressed interest in participating in the project.

India needs small aircraft to cover flights to remote and sparsely populated areas of the country. The authorities have already obliged local airlines to operate at least 10% of flights to remote areas. But the narrow-body aircraft of Airbus and Boeing, whose models make up the lion’s share of India’s fleet, are not suitable for them. Airport runways in small towns are too short for large airliners, and their occupancy on regional routes is usually too low. Airbus estimates that India will need 2,210 aircraft by 2040, and 80% of these will be smaller aircraft.

Embraer said that India has “significant capacity” for the production of regional jets, and the manufacturer is “constantly looking for ways to cooperate with India to find mutually beneficial solutions.” Representatives of Sukhoi, ATR and the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation did not respond to Bloomberg inquiries.

Kirill Sarkhanyants