Gregory Polek has spent his entire career in aviation journalism with AIN, starting as a proofreader and assistant to then-managing editor Mary Mahoney in 1995 after serving an internship with&nbsp;New Jersey Monthly&nbsp;magazine and completing his B.A. degree in English/Writing at New Jersey’s William Paterson College. By 1997 Polek accepted a position as an associate editor, covering the regional airline beat for&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;in place of retiring industry veteran Don Anderson. The assignment took Polek across North America and Europe to profile regional airlines varying in size and mission from the likes of floatplane operators Kenmore Air and Chalk’s Ocean Airways to regional jet operators such as SkyWest and American Eagle. Today, in his dual role as Air Transport Editor and International Airshow Editor, Polek writes, edits, and manages AIN’s commercial aviation content while overseeing each of the company’s daily international air show publications in Paris, Farnborough, Singapore, and Dubai. Most recently Polek has assumed oversight of daily coverage of the Helicopter Association International’s annual Heli-Expo convention.

Senior Editor

Gregory Polek

The Sukhoi Superjet 100 will soon find its first home in Western Europe under the terms of a letter of intent between Moscow-based aircraft lessor Ilyushin Finance and Belgian carrier VLM&nbsp;Airlines. The LOI calls for VLM to take a pair of SSJ100LRs in April next year under a 12-year operating lease, just ahead of the launch of the airline’s planned regional services from its base in Antwerp. The deal includes options on another two SSJ100s and so-called purchase rights on another 10.

 


VLM has yet to announce details surrounding its plans for a new regional network, but the vote of confidence in the Russian-built jet by a Western European operator comes at a particularly opportune time for Sukhoi. U.S. and European sanctions targeting the Kremlin in response to its activities in Crimea and alleged support for pro-Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine have discouraged new Western investment in Russian enterprises. With the help of Russian-backed financing, VLM appears to have bucked a trend.

 


Founded in 1993, VLM operates so-called wet lease and charter airline services with a fleet of 13 Fokker turboprops, serving airlines, tour operators, corporations, government and military organizations. Flying as a unit of Air France-KLM subsidiary CityJet since 2008, VLM Airlines just this month underwent a management buyout from German investment company Intro Aviation.

 


“While VLM Airlines will continue offering ACMI and charter services with our Fokker 50 fleet, we see an exciting opportunity as a niche scheduled operator,” said VLM Airlines CEO Arthur White. “We looked at a number of aircraft types in the 100-seat range to see which would give the best passenger experience, flexibility in short- to medium-range destinations and low operating costs; the SSJ100LR won hands down.”

 


Although it has attracted orders from several Russian and CIS customers, as well as a few small airlines in southeast Asia, the Superjet has struggled to penetrate Western markets. Its only other Western customer, Mexico’s Interjet, now flies 11 of the airplanes in a 93-seat configuration and reports relatively high dispatch reliability since the <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/2013-09-18/interjet-launches-superjet-service">type’s entry into service</a> in September last year.&nbsp;

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