The regional jet industry is becoming a lot more competitive. On offer are products from new airframe manufacturers to address new markets and the leading companies are sharpening their knives for the battle ahead.

The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming… was a 1966 American comedy film. In the regional jet industry, there is an adaptation … the Russians are coming and so are the Japanese and the Chinese. Yes, from a duopoly of Canadian Bombardier and Brazilian Embraer, the regional jet industry is expanding base, albeit delayed. Whether the adaptation will be a runaway hit, remains to be seen.

The fact that there are new entrants is indicative of the market potential and how the two established players—Bombardier and Embraer—are enhancing the product lines, including re-working the seat configurations as airliners are increasingly looking at offering lowest seat mile cost. The forecast is 12,800 aircraft deliveries from 2010-29 with China estimated to receive 18 per cent and India 5 per cent (up from the present 1 per cent), while Europe will witness a shrinkage from 28 per cent to 19 per cent. The new players are first looking at developing their own domestic markets and then exporting, thus making the regional jet industry a lot more competitive. In this article, we look at the product offerings of the new airframe manufacturers, the markets they are addressing and how the major companies are sharpening their knives for the battle ahead. While programme delays have affected the first deliveries of all the three entrants—Russia’s Sukhoi; China’s ACAC and Japan’s Mitsubishi, the regional jet industry, per se, is getting bigger, as regional jets with 70- to149- seat capacities seem a viable route. Even the trio is focused on delivering 90 to 100 plus seat aircraft.

Russian deal: Sukhoi Superjet 100

By the year-end or early next year, the first delivery of Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) is expected as SCAC, a joint venture between Sukhoi and Finmeccanica of Italy, is sorting out the problems with the SaM146 engine, developed by PowerJet, a joint project between the Russian Saturn and the French Snecma. The Deputy Industry and Trade Minister, Denis Manturov, who heads the commission to monitor the implementation of the Sukhoi Superjet programme, recently indicated that work on its final design had been almost entirely completed, but problems remain. At the moment, there are 18 serial aircraft in production, six of which are in the final assembly shop.

The project has got utmost priority by the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, enthused by an order book (inclusive of order of intent) of 256 for the Superjet 100-95, though there is none for the Superjet 100-75. Mikhail Pogosyan, CEO of SCAC has said that a sale of 800 SSJ100 in the next two decades is feasible.

The aircraft features fully electronic fly-by-wire control system for piloting, landing gear extension and retraction, and a brake system to prove its high maintainability and weight perfection. Leadingedge technologies, from design to development, are going to be at the core of the project to make it a modern, economically efficient and globally marketable aircraft.

Sukhoi Superjet 100, the company says, will be easy and safe to pilot and that only one pilot can land the aircraft. The cockpit design features a “passive” side stick and “active” engine control levers. From the airline perspective, the company maintains that the new generation product will offer a perfect combination of regional aircraft efficiency with the mainline level of comfort for passengers and state-of-the-art technologies.

The SSJ100 aerodynamic configuration is specifically optimised for high cruise M-speed without leading to a dramatic increase in fuel consumption. When compared with the competitive aircraft which are bound to fly at M 0.75-0.76 to stay in economic mode, SSJ100 has higher cruise speed. The pitch of the manufacturers is that SSJ100 offers airlines freedom in route and schedule planning with its enhanced take-off and landing performance along with all-weather operation, wide range and passenger payload capabilities.

On the aspect of fuel efficiency, the company states that it is secured by the third generation supercritical airfoil wing and local aerodynamics. The perfectly balanced aircraft control laws in autopilot mode add to fuel consumption savings. Weight perfection and the SaM146 engine, tailored for the aircraft family reduce fuel consumption per seat by 10 per cent compared to its rivals.