Aeroflot will likely take some of the Sukhoi Superjet regional jets built under a 24-unit order from fellow Russian carrier UTair, after the latter ditched its earlier fleet renewal plans due to financial troubles. Aeroflot signed a preliminary agreement covering 20 Superjets last month as a sign of its readiness to enlarge its combined order for the type to 50. Six Superjets still carry the UTair livery while they await a new customer at the manufacturer’s base in Zhukovsky, near Moscow.

“We hope that these airplanes will go to Aeroflot,” UAC president Yuri Slyusar said at a press conference in Moscow on January 29. He thanked the Russian flag carrier for its readiness to accept the whole lot of 20 airframes due for delivery to UTair in the 2015-2016 time frame, noting that it will even take some that are built in UTAir’s 103-seat configuration, as per the original contract. Aeroflot’s present Superjets have a two-class, 87-seat configuration. “For us, it eases the matter a lot,” said Slyusar, noting that it might have proved difficult to place already-built aircraft “as is.”

Sukhoi plans to produce 44 Superjets this year at its KnAAPO factory in Komsomolsk-upon-Amur, in Russia’s far east. “Last year they made 37 aircraft, and managed to sell 27,” Slyusar said. “From the past year, we still have 10 airplanes unsold, but it seems we have found the customer for them.” Meanwhile, the manufacturer has taken back eight more so-called "Aeroflot-Light" Superjets from the flag carrier as a part of the deal to replace them with newer airplanes built to “Aeroflot-Full” standard. The original aircraft have undergone maintenance checks and are now for sale.

In an effort to better promote the rather slow-selling Superjet, UAC has asked the Russian government to introduce a new set of measures designed to help market the airplanes. On January 29, UAC said that the corporation managed to win the Kremlin’s approval, notwithstanding Russia’s ongoing economic crisis. The measures include residual value guarantees from the government of used Superjets, thereby resulting in more affordable lease rates for the airlines. The Russian government already has committed 1 billion rubles for support of the Superjet project in 2015. Plans call for the money to go to UAC Capital, a UAC subsidiary now undergoing preparations for establishment. The new structure will manage a so-called Superjet residual value fund run with help of government subsidies. The fund would provide compensation should the market value of the airplane drop below a given level during negotiations for a new lease contract. UAC expects the Superjet sales support mechanism to remain in place until 2025.