Mexican airline Interjet may use the Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) aircraft in its fleet for domestic flights with routes that do not cross into the airspace of the nation's capital, Russian Ambassador in Mexico Viktor Coronelli told Sputnik on Wednesday
MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th January, 2019) Mexican airline Interjet may use the Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) aircraft in its fleet for domestic flights with routes that do not cross into the airspace of the nation's capital, Russian Ambassador in Mexico Viktor Coronelli told Sputnik on Wednesday.
Interjet is one of the largest operators of SSJ100 aircraft and has operated flights since 2013.
"Due to the limited number of slots at Mexico City Airport, Interjet has recently indicated its intention to focus on aircraft of a larger capacity, primarily the Airbus family. Our SSJ100 fly, work, they may be used more actively on domestic routes which do not pass through the capital," Coronelli said.
He recalled that only 22 SSJ100s of the pledged 30 were delivered to Mexico under the current contract with Interjet.
"At some stage, there were problems with their maintenance, with spare parts deliveries, but, as far as I know, during the time that I have been working here, all questions that arose were resolved as a matter of course, and there were no serious problems," the diplomat said.
Coronelli stated that Mexico would host the next FAMEX international aerospace exhibition in April.
"The Mexican organizers sent invitations to specialized Russian companies, including the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC). We will see which of our manufacturers will come. We assume that the presence at the exhibition may generate interest of the Mexican side in terms of specific cooperation projects," Coronelli said.
Interjet previously refuted in an interview with Sputnik reports alleging that the airline intended to sell SSJ100 planes back to Russia's Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company.
According to Interjet chief executive Jose Luis Garza, the Mexican company managed to reach an agreement to reduce operating costs by way of reducing the cost of servicing airliners, creating a spare parts warehouse in Mexico and installing a flight simulator of the latest generation at the pilot training center in the city of Toluca.
