Russian Civil Aviation: News #3

MOSCOW—Russian engine manufacturer Aviadvigatel is pushing its PD-35 as the preferred engine choice for the Craic CR929 widebody airliner, despite an existing agreement for a jointly developed turbofan for the Russo-Chinese aircraft.

“We plan to participate in the Russo-Chinese CR929 project with the PD-35 [engine],” Aviadvigatel managing director and chief designer Alexander Inozemtsev told journalists Aug. 9. Aviadvigatel is part of Russia’s consolidated, state-owned United Engine Co. (UEC). The PD-35 will have a thrust of 35 metric tons (77,000 lb.), meeting the criteria for the CR929.

The declaration of the Russian engine-maker’s plans follows years of alternately competing and cooperative proposals from companies in the two countries to provide a second engine type for the CR929. The aircraft is expected to be powered initially by a version of the General Electric GEnX or Rolls-Royce Trent 1000.

UEC proposed the PD-35 in 2015 for what was then a planned airframe program to be undertaken by Russia’s United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) and China’s COMAC; the two have since formed the Craic consortium for the project.

Aero Engine Corp. of China (AECC) first proposed its CJ-2000 engine for the CR929 but in 2017 the two sides agreed to cooperate in initial work on a joint engine. At Airshow China in Zhuhai in November 2018 UAC said the two engine companies had formed a joint venture—yet AECC still promoted its independent proposal, by then called AEF3500, at that exhibition.

In 2018, COMAC said CR929 deliveries would begin in 2025, though UAC president Yury Slyusar said that may be optimistic; in June he put the timetable at 2025–27.

A source in the Russian airframe industry confirmed that PD-35 was considered as one of the engine options by the CR929 design team. He explained the protracted process for selecting even the initial engine was representative of the complexity of the program. Craic called for propulsion proposals in December 2017.

Perm, Russia-based Aviadvigatel earlier developed the PS-90 engine for Soviet-era passenger aircraft and airlifters; the company also provides the PD-14 turbofan engine for Russia’s new Irkut MC-21 narrowbody.

Development of the PD-35 development is only in its initial stage; a detailed design is expected to be completed by year-end-2019. Bench testing of the first prototype is due to begin by the end of 2023.

UEC said it intends to build a new ground-test facility near Perm especially for the PD-35 by the end of 2025. The corporation’s current facilities can only accommodate testing for engines with a thrust of up to 23 metric tons.

UEC now plans to certify the PD-35 in 2027 although Inozemtsev said the engine can be ready as early as 2025. Slyusar said in June that the CR929 would first fly in 2023–25.

In a description published in 2017, the PD-35 will be a two-shaft engine with four core-boosting compressor stages on the low-pressure spool, nine stages in the high-pressure compressor, a two-stage high-pressure turbine and a seven-stage low-pressure turbine. Notably, the stage count for the high-pressure compressor is lower than that of the GEnX by one stage.

The latest UEC presentation shows not only the PD-35 for the CR929, but also a second version of the engine, the 38-metric-ton PD-38. The PD-35 is apparently proposed for the basic CR929-600 version, which will accommodate 291 passengers in a two-class configuration and have a range of 12,000 km (7,400 mi.).

According to the presentation, the CR929-200’s maximum take-off weight (MTOW) will be 245 metric tons (270 tons). This indicates some stability in the design, since the same MTOW figure was mentioned by UAC to Aviation Week in November 2018. The PD-38 is likely to power the stretched CR929-700 variant.

The PD-35 will reportedly use the scaled-up core of the PD-14 engine. The PD-14 was certified in October 2018 and is expected to be an option for the MC-21 narrowbody airliner, which was initially developed with the Pratt & Whitney PW1400G.

The PD-35 could have applications other than CR929. Inozemtsev said it would also be installed on a proposed two-engine version of the Ilyushin Il-96 widebody. “As far as I know, there is a specific target” for the two-engine Il-96, Inozemtsev said. “This is 2025. The launch customer is the Department of Presidential Affairs. We will be in time with the engine.”

The PD-35 core could also be used to develop a new engine for Antonov An-124 airlifters, he added.

Austin wrote:Kremlin To Invest $3 Billion in 35-tonne Turbofan for Il-96, CR929

https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2019-08-14/kremlin-invest-3-billion-35-tonne-turbofan-il-96-cr929

UAC will launch production of the four-engine machine seating 380- to 415 passengers with existing PS-90A1 engines, having ditched Aviadvigatel’s proposal to supply the improved PS-90A3M

Pobeda Airlines proposed to privatize

Posted by 08/14/2019 | @AviaRu |  121

The head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), Igor Artemyev, proposed privatizing the Pobeda low-cost airline (Aeroflot's subsidiary) for the development of domestic passenger traffic and market competition. This is stated in his letter of July 18, sent to Deputy Prime Minister Maxim Akimov and Minister of Transport Yevgeny Dietrich. It is reportedRBC.

In the segment of air transportation of passengers on short- and medium-haul aircraft, regularities have been identified that can lead to the establishment of different prices on comparable routes, ”the letter of Artemyev said. According to the Federal Antimonopoly Service, profitable rates on Pobeda routes are on average 10% lower than on the market. The airline must develop domestic destinations or leave the Aeroflot group,considers Deputy Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service Alexander Redko.

"The presence of Pobeda Airlines on the routes helps to reduce ticket prices for all carriers, including competitors of the Aeroflot group. The refusal of the low-cost airline from the domestic route in favor of the international route is two steps back. Remaining in the Aeroflot and Pobeda group should develop domestically, or leave the Aeroflot group and compete with it, "said Redko.

Igor Artemyev considers it advisable that the Ministry of Transport and Aeroflot, which occupies a "dominant position" in the market, when deciding on the distribution of international routes, decide on the development strategy for Pobeda, "consistent with state tasks to ensure transport accessibility of the population on domestic airlines," in the letter. Artemyev advocates the development of domestic transportation "Victory", and not international destinations. He also proposed "make a decision on the privatization of Victory and its withdrawal from Aeroflot Group.

This is not the first time that the government has criticized Victory for the development of international routes: in April 2018, Deputy Transport Minister Alexander Yurchik opposed the company's aggressive expansion into foreign markets, recalling that its main task is to transport passengers across Russia. In response to this, the head of the “Victory” Andrey Kalmykov said that the carrier only performs tasks from the shareholder. “We don’t really understand why people should be able to fly cheaply inside the country and not have it when flying abroad. It is impossible not to notice that we are developing very actively in the regions of Russia, ”he emphasized.

According to Victory data for December 2018, international flights accounted for 20% of the company's flights, and domestic flights - 80%. But the airline earns more on international flights, and they allow you to subsidize inter-regional flights, Kalymkov pointed out in an interview with RBC. “If there is an opportunity, then, of course, we will grow wherever there will be free niches,” he added.

Isos wrote:That's rather pathetic from sukhoi to not be able to deliver spare parts on time ...


Rob Lee
@RALee85
·
2h
More bad news for the SSJ100 Sukhoi Superjet. The last foreign operator of the SSJ100, Mexico's Interjet, is trying to sell its remaining Superjets. Of its 22 SSJ100, only 6 are in operation and others have been cannibalized to keep those in operation.

https://www.vedomosti.ru/amp/9030804977/business/articles/2019/08/22/809449-ssj100-prodaet?__twitter_impression=true

Bound to get much better: Kremlin upbeat on future of Superjet-100

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. Russia’s Sukhoi Superjet-100 aircraft (SSJ-100) will get increasingly better as more such airliners will be built and put into operation, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

"Domestic airlines are using this aircraft more frequently. Aeroflot is the biggest operator of this jet," he stressed.

"As these planes increase in number, all their features will improve. That is clear," he said.

When asked if the plans by Interjet, a Mexican airline, to sell its SSJ-100s have become a serious blow to the reputation of the Russian aircraft building industry, Peskov replied: "We would not draw such conclusions."

Earlier on Friday, the Vedomosti newspaper reported citing sources that Interjet, the only foreign operator of the Russian aircraft, plans to sell its SSJ-100s. According to the publication, the Mexican airline is mulling selling off 21 or 14 planes, or "as many as it can." The newspaper named the carrier's difficult financial circumstances as the reason for the sale.

Meanwhile, a source told TASS that Interjet plans to hold seven aircraft in its fleet and re-market 14 more.

A representative of the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft company (part of the United Aircraft Corporation) however rejected this report and told TASS that Interjet, which operates 22 of these Russian airliners, does not plan to get rid of these planes or return them to the manufacturer. Instead, SSJ-100 aircraft producer and French partners are looking for ways of restructuring Interjet debts, a source familiar with plans of the Mexican airline told TASS on Friday.

"At the same time, SCA and French partners are working out solutions for restructuring of Interjet debts to suppliers and improving performance of the fleet remaining with the airline," the source told TASS.

The Mexican airline is not going to abandon this type of airplanes and return them to the producer, SCA told TASS on Friday. Wet leasing of SSJ-100 is considered along with other options of fleet optimization, a source told TASS earlier.

The SSJ-100 is the first civilian aircraft designed in Russia. It is a regional jet, whose basic version has a flight range of 4,400 km and a seating capacity of 98 passengers. The model’s production started in 2011.

SSJ-100 crash landing
On May 5, an Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger plane (flight SU1492) with 73 passengers and five crewmembers onboard that was bound for Murmansk returned to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo 30 minutes after takeoff and caught fire during its crash landing. Forty-one people died, and ten more were rushed to the hospital because of the explosion. A criminal case was opened after the accident on charges of violating flight safety rules entailing the death of two or more people. Investigators are looking at several versions of the crash, including pilot incompetence, a technical malfunction and unfavorable weather conditions.