Antonov An 148

Russian-built An-148 starts revenue flights

Russian carrier Rossiya has introduced its Antonov An-148, the first Russian-build example of the twin-jet, to revenue service.
It commenced operations with the aircraft, RA-61701, on 21 December with flight FV135 from St Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport to Moscow Sheremetyevo.
United Aircraft Corporation says that the regional jet replaced a Boeing 737-500 on the route.
Rossiya's An-148s are configured with 68 seats. The first flight transported 41 passengers, six of whom were in the eight-seat business-class cabin.
Six of the type, which are manufactured at the VASO plant in Voronezh, are destined for Rossiya under an agreement arranged through Ilyushin Finance.

Initial operations with the new Antonov An-148 regional jet are proving expensive compared with other aircraft, the Russian launch customer has told a technical conference, and the type needs better maintenance support.

St Petersburg-based carrier Rossiya took delivery of the first serial Russian-built An-148 last October and the airline will receive its fourth in June. The conference on 27 May aimed to examine the type's performance over the first few months of service.

Rossiya general director Sergei Belov put forward a candid assessment of the airline's early experience with the An-148. He says the aircraft had high operating costs and was "worse" than the Boeing 737 in terms of commercial efficiency. Rossiya's fleet includes 737-500s.

Lease payments for the An-148 are 30% higher in comparison with the 737 and to generate an "acceptable level of profitability", says Belov, the aircraft must be flown for at least 10-12 hours per day.

Belov adds that efficient operation of the type would be "difficult" without the assistance of equipment manufacturers and developers. Priority must be given to creating round-the-clock technical support availability, setting up spares centres, and expansion of the An-148's minimum equipment list.

Design bureau Antonov, airframer VASO and other industry organisations need to provide "full support" to ensure successful operation on the An-148, adds Belov, while airports in Russia should also receive assistance to cope with handling the aircraft.




Rossiya, which intends to have six An-148s in service by the end of 2010, nevertheless says that the twin-jet has good prospects for use on regional routes in spite of the problems arising from introducing a new type.

Federal air transport regulator Rosaviatsia's chief, Alexander Neradko, says that the 68-seat An-148, as Russia's offering to address regional aircraft demand, is attracting close attention. He says the technical conference - which included representatives of Antonov, VASO, Ilyushin Finance and Motor-Sich - aimed to discuss the "most painful" issues arising from initial operations and find ways to resolve them.

No restrictions on An-148 after in-flight upset

Russian authorities are not intending to restrict [url=http://www.flightglobal.com/landingpage/antonov an-148.html]Antonov An-148[/url] operations following the in-flight upset to a Rossiya aircraft en route to St Petersburg earlier this month.
After departing Moscow Vnukovo on 4 June the twin-jet was cruising at 10,600m (34,800ft), with 54 passengers and five crew members on board, when the upset occurred.
Preliminary information indicates that the aircraft, conducting a night flight, suffered an uncommanded rudder deflection, and entered a steep right bank - some 56° - and pitched downwards before the crew brought the jet under control.
Federal air transport agency Rosaviatsia confirms that the aircraft banked and lost height but states: "The crew promptly switched to manual control, then made a safe landing at St Petersburg Airport."
Investigators from Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) states that the fault was linked to a malfunctioning control system.
Inquiries discovered damaged insulation on an electrical cable which appears to have resulted in the transmission of spurious signals.
MAK says that an airworthiness directive has already been issued aimed at verifying the integrity of the supply chain for An-148 production.
Design bureau Antonov, Voronezh-based airframer VASO, and systems developer Moscow Institute of Electromechanics and Automation are participating in the investigation.
But Rosaviatsia says that there is "no reason" to restrict the flights of the An-148, three of which are among the Rossiya fleet - including the airframe involved in the incident, RA-61701.
It adds that any problems arising with the type, particularly at this early stage of its introduction to airline service, would be carefully assessed in order to implement solutions to ensure continued safe operation.

Russia's first serial production Antonov An-148 is to be transferred back to airframer VASO in Voronezh to undergo modification in a bid to improve the type's performance. The performance review could include an evaluation of potentially re-engining the 70-seater with the Sukhoi Superjet's PowerJet SaM146 turbofan.
The An-148 (RA-61701) is one of four in service with Rossiya. It was being flown back to VASO in late July where it will undergo up to two months of refinement, the airframer says.
VASO deputy technical director Igor Abramov says the modifications will take into account feedback received over the first few months of operation of the type.

He adds that any performance improvements will be incorporated into assembly of subsequent An-148s. Abramov says this will have a "positive effect on the attractiveness of the aircraft" to airlines.
Rossiya had criticised aspects of the An-148's performance at a conference in May during which it detailed its experience with the type.
While VASO has not given much indication of the modifications to be carried out, it says that they could include a more comfortable interior and improvements to the heating system, allowing the type to operate under more extreme conditions in the north of Russia.
The airframer says that taking the aircraft back to Voronezh was a simpler option than sending teams of engineers to Rossiya's St Petersburg base to conduct structural and technological improvements.
Rossiya, which is taking its An-148 fleet through leasing company Ilyushin Finance, is due to receive a fifth An-148 before the end of August.
Ilyushin Finance, which holds marketing rights for the An-148 under an agreement with Antonov, says VASO will tentatively assess the SaM146's potential for the An-148 and the possibility of using it to replace the current Progress D-436 engine, built by Ukrainian engine manufacturer Motor Sich.
This exercise, however, is only intended to compare technical characteristics of the two engines. Antonov points out that equipping the An-148 with a new powerplant would require special permission.
Motor Sich has dismissed the re-engining proposal, insisting such a move would be legally questionable. The engine maker's board chairman Vyacheslav Boguslayev says the enterprise had a long-term agreement with Antonov to supply Progress D-436 engines.
"Under it, Antonov is to equip the first 50 serial An-148s with our engines so that allow us to break even on the development costs," he says. "Ahead of that, putting any other powerplant on the An-148 would be in violation of this agreement."
Motor Sich says it is capable of producing three dozen D-436s this year while its tentative agreement with Ilyushin Finance envisages the supply of 60 more engines in 2011.
But Boguslayev has cautioned against using an alternative engine for the An-148, saying: "If it happens, we would take the matter to court and seek $45 million in damages."

Russian state airline GTK Rossiya, the only current user of the Antonov An-148 regional airliner, has criticised the aircraft's reliability as unacceptable and listed a string of problems including door locks, engine and APU failures.

The reliability of the An-148 cannot guarantee a sufficient level of in-flight safety, Rossiya said in a Moscow presentation on the programme.

The airline has been using the aircraft since June. In the three months to September, including aircrew training flights, the company's five An-148 aircraft flew 1,725h with Rossiya. In that time, 235 problems occurred, requiring over 2,000 man-hours of repair work.

In one 92-day period, one aircraft was unfit to fly for 89 days, Rossiya says.

Rossiya says incidence of technical failure in its fleet occurred once every 344h in the An-148, every 5,355h in its Airbuses, and 2,824h in its Boeing 737s.

The airline listed five incidents in three months with the An-148's undercarriage, electrical supply system and its flight control system, which has caused particular problems with 31 failures in the three-month period.

Rossiya claims that remedial work to fix the aircraft did not improve reliability. In the three-month period, the aircraft had removed one Ivchenko-Progress D-436-148 turbofan and two AI-450 APUs. The airline says the aircraft requires 3.8 times more man-hours of Class A maintenance than its 50 hour specified amount.

Ilyushin Finance, which markets the aircraft, says the issues with the aircraft are normal problems for a new design: "In the process of use, these teething problems will be wrinkled out, but this takes a little time and we would hope that the manufacturer will promptly work out these issues as they arise, as there is a big demand for this aircraft."

Rossiya has called for establishment of a working after-sales care service for the aircraft by Antonov's parent, Russia's United Aircraft Corporation.

The airline's complaints come just days after another client for the aircraft, Atlant-Soyuz, said it was considering buying the Sukhoi Superjet instead of the An-148s it has on order.

UAC said on September 24 it will invest an additional $232 million in development and production of the An-148 at its Irkut subsidiary.

Last month, it was decided that Irkut would take over management of the An-148 programme from Ilyushin Finance.

La compagnie aéronautique russo-ukrainienne en cours de création a déjà reçu des commandes pour 130 avions An-148 et An-158, a annoncé vendredi le chef du bureau d'études de l'avionneur ukrainien Antonov, Dmitri Kiva.

En avril dernier, la Compagnie aéronautique unifiée russe OAK et Antonov ont convenu de créer une coentreprise destinée à la vente et à la maintenance d'avions An.

"Nous avons reçu des commandes de plusieurs pays, dont la Russie, l'Ukraine ainsi que certains pays d'Asie et d'Amérique latine. A présent 130 appareils de type An-148 et An-158 ont été commandés", a indiqué le responsable au Salon aérospatial international Aviamir 21, qui se tient du 30 septembre au 4 octobre à Gostomel près de Kiev.

Les avions seront construits dans les usines aéronautiques de Kiev et de Voronej (Russie, ndlr). "La coentreprise ne prendra en charge que les questions d'intégration et de coordination", a conclu M.Kiva.

St Petersburg-based carrier Rossiya is planning to firm an order for further nine Antonov An-148 regional jets, despite its recent complaints about the type's reliability.

Speaking during the Aviasvit air show in Kiev, Rossiya general manager Sergei Belov said the airline wanted to have 15 An-148s in its fleet. Since December it has received five VASO-built examples from leasing company Ilyushin Finance, with a sixth scheduled for delivery before 2011.

While acknowledging a number of technical deficiencies in the jets, Belov says they do not compromise safety and the airline is working jointly with the lessor and manufacturer to resolve them.

"They only represent teething problems. It is a normal situation when you begin introducing new aircraft types," he says. "Overall, we're content with the performance of the An-148s, some of which are airborne up to 14h on particular days."

Rossiya says incidence of technical failure in its fleet occurred once every 344h in the An-148, every 5,355h in its Airbuses and 2,824h in its Boeing 737s.

To ramp up An-148 production in Russia and Ukraine, Ilyushin Finance has proposed to pool resources with Ukrainian counterpart Lizingtechtrans and other lessors interested in the project.

Separately, Antonov is cautious about revisiting the An-148's engine configuration despite having consented to assess the PowerJet SaM146 powerplant as an alternative.

The first 50 An-148s are to be equipped with Progress D-436 turbofans specifically produced for the type by Ukrainian engine manufacturer Motor-Sich.

Antonov chief Dmitry Kiva acknowledges that offering customers a choice of engines will enhance the type's marketability. But he adds: "You cannot know what alternatives could appear there. In particular, Motor-Sich is already working on a new turbofan with a 10-15% higher fuel efficiency."

An-148 : OAK investira 231,8 M USD supplémentaires dans le projet

La Compagnie aéronautique unifiée russe (OAK) envisage d'investir d'ici 2012 231,8 millions de dollars supplémentaires dans la production de l'An-148 russo-ukrainien, lit-on dans une présentation du constructeur aéronautique Irkout, division d'OAK, dont l'agence RIA Novosti a obtenu copie.

Au 1 juin 2010, l'OAK avait déjà investi 360,5 millions de dollars dans ce projet. Ainsi le montant total du programmer atteindra avant l'année 2012 592,39 millions de dollars, indique le document.
Projet conjoint russo-ukrainien, le moyen-courrier An-148 est destiné à transporter 70 à 90 passagers sur des distances allant jusqu'à 5.100 km, à une vitesse de 780 à 850 km/h et à une altitude de 12,2 km maximum.
La conception de cet appareil a été réalisée en six ans, délai record, sur les principes du partenariat, par le Bureau d'études ukrainien Antonov et des sous-traitants russes et ukrainiens.
En décembre 2010, la société de leasing IFK (Russie) a annoncé 60 commandes fermes et 50 options d'achat pour l'An-148.

The lion’s share of passengers carried on Russian-made An-148s were carried between St. Petersburg and Moscow: this route was selected as most convenient from viewpoint of fixing would-be malfunctions discovered in flight, flight preparations or post-flight checks. But this put the An-148 into head-on competition with larger jets on the same route. Six other airlines fly between the two cities using Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 family jets. GTK Rossiya itself operates Airbus A319/320 and Boeing 737-500 on the same route, making a total of 15 daily return flights between the two cities in winter time. This makes it easy to compare the performance of different aircraft. Having analyzed first three month of winter operations, GTK Rossiya found the An-148 to be a more effective money-making machine. “The An-148 offers lower operating costs than the 737-500 per flight basis”, Sergei Belov said.

According to his founding, the costs for a round trip appeared to be 23% less. Although the 737-500 is somewhat larger, its excessive capacity was only occasionally helpful, whereas the An-148 flew with average seat loading factor at 75%. On longer routes, such as that connecting St. Petersburg and Samara, the An-148’s direct trip costs were 46% less than the Boeing’s. This makes Belov able to assert: “The An-148 is not only in demand today, it is essential to increasing frequencies on our route network”.

In the first year of revenue operations in Ukraine, the airplane demonstrated fuel burn of 1,760kg (3,880lb) per block hour, and block speed of 700kmh (378kt). Average flight duration was 1 hour 20 minutes. Initially, services were flown to six destinations within Ukraine, but later a dozen of international destinations were added.

He is also bullish about the Antonov An-148/158 regional airliner family. The 75-seat An-148 endured severe criticism from its launch customer Rossiya when it entered service just over a year ago, with complaints over unreliability and slow reaction times by the manufacturer to solve problems. Production plant VASO took the first aircraft back to implement refinements on the machine and Rossiya undertook modifications on other aircraft in its fleet itself.
The situation today, says Rubtsov, is vastly improved. "The 148 is performing much better. Average flight hours now exceed 300 per month, the level we believe is break-even. That's a very significant milestone and very good news after just one year.
"Achieving 300 hours a month is a relatively easy job for a medium-range or long-range aircraft, but for a regional airliner that's flying [sectors of] up to two hours with a lot of cycles, 300 hours a month is very impressive."
The improvement programme covering areas such as engines, auxiliary power units and landing gear has yielded results and considerably improved the aircraft's reliability.
"We've managed to convince the design bureau and manufacturer that they have to streamline the support programme and significantly reduce the reaction time to fix problems and improve the quality of some components."
VASO now guarantees to fix defects with 24 hours and IFC is pushing engine manufacturer Motor Sich "very hard" to similarly improve support for the powerplant and APU. The Progress D-436 engine is "generally very reliable and efficient", he says, "but we did have some minor problems such as bearings."
That said, the possibility of finding an alternative engine for the type, first mooted last year, still remains, with discussions ongoing with several power plant manufacturers. One candidate, not mentioned last year, is the SaM146 used on the rival Sukhoi Superjet regional airliner.
At present, IFC has a mix of 136 firm orders and preliminary agreements for the Antonov types, with around 40% of those firm, says Rubtsov. This figure does not include aircraft bought directly by bodies such as the government's emergencies ministry or for presidential flight.
Around 60 on IFC's order book are for the stretched, 100-seat An-158 and the remainder for the 75-seat An-148. The smaller aircraft, with its longer range, is in higher demand within Russia, a reflection of the considerable distances that airlines have to fly in the huge country. The type is proving particularly popular in South America, he says, with MoUs and preliminary contracts for around 60, mostly the larger An-158.
However, the largest single customer will likely be Aeroflot and IFC is talking with several of the regional airlines, such as Vladivostok Avia and Pulkovo Airlines that are being subsumed within the national carrier.
An indication of the growing satisfaction with the An-148, he says, is that Pulkovo is in the market for a further nine examples to add to its existing six - the best possible evidence, he says, that the aircraft has been produced with the object of making money, not always the prime consideration during the Soviet era.
"As far as our clients are concerned, they are very satisfied with the Antonov's performance; we very much hope the Superjet will be the same."
Talks on the Antonov are also underway with airlines in several CIS nations, notably Kazakhstan and Belarus, he adds. With the aircraft designed to operate in extreme weather, there is also interest from several Siberia-based airlines, although he is careful not to reply directly when asked about interest from rapidly expanding Novosibirsk-based S7. He hopes he may be able to announce further deals at either the Paris or MAKS shows.
"My biggest problem is not with orders but production capacity," he reveals. "At the moment, combined production capacity in Ukraine and Russia is 10-12 aircraft a year. Within the next three years, we need to bring it up to 36-40, to meet market demand."

The Russian ministry of defense (MoD) has awarded United Aircraft (UAC) a firm order for 15 Antonov An-148 twinjets, according to UAC president Mikhail Pogosian, speaking at the Paris Air Show. The contract is worth Rouble 18 billion ($550 million). The delivery schedule calls for one aircraft this year, eight in 2014-2015 and six in 2016-2017. The Russian government has previously expressed a need for 130 jetliners for various government agencies. This requirement includes 59 An-148s, according to minister for industry and trade Denis Manturov.

Antonov is developing the An-178, a ramp-equipped airlifter based on the An-148 and able to carry a 16-metric-ton payload 3,800 km. At the Paris Air Show, Antonov president and general designer Dmytro Kiva said the first prototype is under construction for an anticipated maiden flight next year.