Armenia’s flagship air carrier Armavia said on Monday it had returned its Superjet-100 (SSJ-100) medium-haul aircraft to the manufacturer, for which it was the launch customer.
Armavia’s first and only SSJ-100 is undergoing regularly scheduled maintenance at the Sukhoi Civil Aviation’s flight test facility near the town of Zhukovsky some 40 kilometers southeast of Moscow.
“We consider it inexpedient to purchase the aircraft because it required repairs during its first year in service,” a company spokeswoman said.
She denied Armavia owed Sukhoi maintenance fees.
Company chief Mikhail Bagdasarov earlier said the company was unwilling to have Sukhoi Superjet-100s in service because it was below the previously declared standards.
The SSJ manufacturer said earlier on Monday it has not yet received any notification from Armavia.
Armavia earlier canceled its order for another Sukhoi Superjet-100. The reason for the termination of the contract was not disclosed. Sukhoi said the move was due to financial problems.
SSJ-100 is developed by Sukhoi in cooperation with U.S. and European aviation corporations, including Boeing, Snecma, Thales, Messier Dowty, Liebherr Aerospace and Honeywell. It is capable of carrying up to 100 passengers for 4,500 kilometers.