OREANDA-NEWS. On July 30th 2013 Yakutia Airlines has operated the first flight from Niigata at Japan Honshu Island to Vladivostok in the Russian Far East by Sukhoi Superjet 100.

Earlier in the day, the aircraft performed a ferry flight from Osaka to Niigata, where, following an old aviation tradition, the aircraft was welcomed with a water bridge courtesy of the Niigata Airport Fire Department.

Yakutia Airlines will also operate flights with the Sukhoi Superjet 100 from Niigata to Khabarovsk - the capital of the Far East Federal District of Russia. A flight from Vladivostok to Niigata will take 1.5 hours while passengers on a flight from Khabarovsk to Niigata may enjoy a comfortable Sukhoi Superjet 100 for two hours. The turnaround flight Vladivostok-Niigata is scheduled on August 6 and 13, while the Khabarovsk - Niigata flight will happen on August 3 and 10.

“It is exciting that our customer, the largest airline in Russia’s Far East, is successfully establishing new destination routes with Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft,” said Mr Andrey Kalinovsky, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC) President. “The airline recently started operations to China with our aircraft and now it is also offering flights to Japan. We wish success to Yakutia Airlines in continuing development of its route network to Asia. We are always ready to support our partners in implementation of their projects”.

During the Summer Season these flights will be performed on a charter basis. In case of a sufficient payload of the flights demonstrated, the airline will consider regular basis for these destinations.

Added Mr. Ivan Prostit, Director General of Yakutia Airlines, “Flights from the Russian Far East to Japan are not only expanding Sukhoi Superjet 100’s flight geography, but are also granting new opportunities for a dialogue between our two countries”.

This past winter, SCAC delivered two Sukhoi Superjet 100 to Yakutia Airlines, which can now operate flights in Yakutia’s extremely cold winter conditions.

In the first half of 2013, the two aircraft have operated more than 300 flights and flown for more than 750 flight hours.

Yakutia Airlines’ Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft, are now operating flights in both the Far East of Russia: from Yakutsk to Blagoveshchensk, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Magadan, Khabarovsk, and abroad - to Beijing and Kharbin.