OREANDA-NEWS. March 15, 2010. United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), together with the State Corporation Antonov of Ukraine and HindAvia Aeronautical Services Pvt Ltd of India took part in the 2rd International Exhibition & Conference on Civil Aviation "India Aviation 2010". It was held in the territory of the Begumpet Airport airport, Hyderadad, reported the press-centre of UAC.

Aircraft number RA61703, a third deliverable example of the Russian-made An-148-100, was on display at India Aviation 2010. Assembled by the VASO aviation plant in Voronezh, this aircraft is intended for the State Transport Company “Russia” (Russian acronym GTK Rossiya).

On the opening day the joint stand by UAC, Antonov and HindAvia was attended by Praful Patel, the Minister for Civil Aviation of India. He exchanged greetings with the head of the Russian delegation Mr. Yuri Grudinin, Director of Regional Aircraft Directorate at UAC-Civil Aircraft. The Minister welcomed introduction of the new generation passenger jet created jointly by Russia and Ukraine to the Indian market. “I believe this airplane has good prospects here in India”, the Minister said. Both Praful Patel and Yuri Grudinin expressed their hopes that our countries will continue to expand their collaboration in the sphere of high technologies and cooperate in development of the air transportation system.

During the show meetings and negotiations were held with dozens of interested Indian firms willing to purchase Russian airplanes, to master their maintenance and overhaul, to provide assistance and various services. Representatives of companies headquartered in twelve states of India attended the joint stand. Two Indian airlines signed protocols and preliminary agreements on delivery of passenger versions of the An-148 aircraft family. Those call for contracts, to be finalized in future, on a total of eight firm orders and eleven options. In addition, the local carriers expressed their intent to purchase ten aircraft in the cargo version. Yuri Grudinin shared this information with foreign and local journalists at a press briefing.

Taking into account the high interest expressed by local carriers in the An-148 aircraft family, UAC and Antonov have decided to initiate the procedure of type certificate validation with the Indian aviation authorities. The type certificate was issued by the Aviation Register of the Interstate Aviation Committee (ARMAK) in February 2007. Validation procedure shall be carried out in accordance with the bilateral aviation safety agreements entered earlier by the aviation authorities of both countries. The validation process should be complete by the end of 2010 to enable An-148 aircraft deliveries to Indian customers in the first quarter of 2011.

The need of the Indian carriers in modern aircraft of the An-148 size is estimated at about two hundred units over the next fifteen years. In case this estimate proves valid, Russia and India may considerably expand their cooperation in the sphere of joint aircraft production. This will allow to involve more local enterprises, both public and private sector, including manufacturers of aircraft and their components, companies specializing in maintenance and repair, and firms offering various services to aircraft operators and passengers.

HindAvia Aeronautical Services Pvt Ltd, headed by president Dr. Siddhartha Bose helps UAC to promote its aircraft in the Indian market.