Rusaviaprom in talks with Alrosa Air on possibly restarting An-38 production

NOVOSIBIRSK. June 29 (Interfax) - Rusaviaprom LLC, which produces aircraft based on modernized An-2 biplanes, is in talks with Alrosa Air Company on possibly restarting production of An-38 twin-engine turboprop regional airliners, Rusaviaprom CEO Alexei Kryukov said at the tenth International Siberian Transport Forum in Novosibirsk on Thursday.

"We're holding talks on the An-38 plane with representatives of Alrosa. It was proposed [...] to set up a design bureau and relaunch production of these airplanes, including with delivery of engines. These negotiations are currently sluggish, but the project itself is interesting, it's possible to relaunch it and produce a fairly good machine," Kryukov said.

He said production of 30-seat aircraft is currently a "niche occupied by no one," but the experience of Alrosa Air, which operates two 27-seat An-38s, shows that there is demand for such planes.

"We're open for discussion, prepared to set up a joint design bureau [given] an understanding of the financing," Kryukov said.

Alrosa Air deputy CEO Igor Khoroshikh said at the forum that the An-38 is unique. "It has certain flying and technical characteristics that not a single [other] aircraft on the market has. We actively use it in the conditions of Yakutia, transporting cargo and passengers, carrying out air medical services, some fly-bys," he said, adding that the problem was servicing the foreign engines on these aircraft.

"Engines that, unfortunately, given all developments, we cannot service. And repair facilities abroad simply refused, understanding that this is only for us," Khoroshikh said. However, he said it is "probably possible to somehow solve the problem" of building an engine and proposed to set up serial production of planes based on the An-38.

Kryukov proposed that the airline act as the financial partner for such a project. "Understanding that only [Alrosa Air] are operators [of An-38 planes], we need to meet with you as the main customer, together talk through some kind of schedule, some sort of financing and, I think, that you could be involved in this matter not just as an operator, but as a financial partner," he said.

The moderator of the conference, AviaPort executive director Oleg Panteleyev said that there is "essentially no domestic engine for a local 30-seat plane" at the moment.

A project to build an "An-38 plane with Russian engines was carried out at one time in the form of a prototype that was built in Novosibirsk, tested and, unfortunately, shelved, because the engine [...], to put it mildly, did not really satisfy operators," Panteleyev said, adding that a domestic engine of this size would essentially have to be "made from scratch."

The An-38 is a stretched, modernized version of the earlier An-28 developed by the Antonov design bureau in Ukraine. It made its first flight in 1994 and received international flight certification in April 2000. Only 11 of these planes were built and just two remain in operation.