... we still want Russian civil airplanes to come to the Indonesian market...Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi Company hopes that negotiations with its Indonesian partners on the purchase of civil airplane Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ-100) will continue, said Counselor Sergey Tolchenov of the Russian Embassy here.
"Sukhoi civil aviation company is still looking for the possibility of cooperation on civil aviation because we still want Russian civil airplanes to come to the Indonesian market," Sergey said at the Russian Embassy here on Tuesday.
The SSJ-100 crashed into the side of Mount Salak in Bogor during its joy flight in May 3rd. The accident has brought pause to the negotiation on the purchase of the aircraft by Sky Aviation, one of the Indonesian airlines. Two of the crashed victims were Angkasa magazine journalists, named Didik N Yusuf (aviation photographer) and Dody Aviantara.
However, the Russian side still believed that civil aviation could be one of the prospective aviation cooperation, aside from military aircraft. The SSJ-100 airplane is now still in the process of getting license and the Sukhoi Company expects that the purchase negotiation with Indonesian airlines would be continued.
"Maybe by the end of this year, we will be able to continue negotiation with some Indonesian companies which are interested in buying civil aircraft Sukhoi Superjet 100," he added.
About what Indonesian company which would buy SSJ-100, he said that the Russian aircraft manufacturer was seriously looking for Indonesian civil aviation market. "Sukhoi Aviation Company has preliminary discussions with two Indonesian airlines, Kartika Airlines and Sky Aviation, but I don't know which one is going to buy," he said.
On May 3, the ill-fated Sukhoi Superjet 100, carrying dozens of local airlines representatives and journalists, was supposed to have a quick joy flight, 50-minute to the part of Java Island and back.
Unfortunately, soon after it took-off from Jakarta Halim Perdanakusuma airbase, the aircraft lost contact with the tower after its Russian pilot and co-pilot asked permission to lower their flight from an altitude of 10.000 feet to 6.000 feet (about from 3.000 meters to 1.800 meters).
The aircraft crashed and no survivors in the tragedy. The governments of Russia and Indonesia have established a joint commission to find the causes of the accident.
(F013/A014/KR-BSR)
Editor: Ade P Marboen
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