Emirati investors want SSJ 100 European certification for release in the UAE
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As Kommersant found out, SuperJet International, a joint venture between UAC and the Italian Leonardo, created to export the SSJ 100, wants to obtain a European type certificate for the aircraft. Now the certificate, whose validity was suspended due to sanctions in 2022, belongs to Yakovlev. Obtaining the certificate will be a critical part of the sale of UAC’s stake in SuperJet International. The buyer may be UAE MarkAB Capital, which expects to organize the production of aircraft in the UAE with the participation of Italians. Self-certification of the aircraft, as Kommersant’s interlocutors note, even with documentation available, will take years.
As it became known to Kommersant, the Italian SuperJet International (SJI, a joint venture between UAC and Leonardo) is negotiating with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on the possibility of obtaining a European type certificate for the SSJ 100 aircraft, the holder of which remains its manufacturer Yakovlev PJSC. According to a Kommersant source close to SJI, the transfer of the certificate and “all technical documentation for the aircraft” is one of the conditions under which the Emirati investment company MarkAB Capital is ready to purchase UAC’s stake in SJI. Now this share has been arrested due to sanctions, and, according to a well-informed interlocutor of Kommersant in Brussels, in parallel, SJI is trying to convince the Italian authorities to lift the arrest.
The press service of SJI refrained from commenting until the official relaunch of the joint venture, noting that the company “strives to secure its future by attracting new shareholders.” “We are actively working on a plan to restart the company, which will be possible only after certain conditions are met and the necessary permits are obtained from the Italian and Russian authorities,” SJI said. SJI CEO Camillo Perfido “Kommersant” did not answer. The press services of EASA, MarkAB, Rostec, UAC and Yakovlev (former Irkut) did not comment on the situation.
SJI is a Russian-Italian joint venture established in 2007 by UAC structures and the Leonardo holding (then Finmeccanica) to customize the SSJ 100 before deliveries to foreign airlines. UAC shares, along with four SSJ aircraft in Venice, were arrested in Italy in the summer of 2022 as part of anti-Russian sanctions. Italian media reported that UAC in total owns 90% of the shares worth $160 million. In February of this year, SJI announced that MarkAB Capital was ready to acquire a 49% stake in UAC. Another 41% would go to Italy’s Studio Guidotti International.
In June, SJI reported that the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) had approved a project to build a regional aircraft assembly line in Al Ain, without specifying which ones. SJI said that the plant in Al Ain can be built as early as 2025, and by 2026 the supply chain of the necessary components will be established in the UAE and Italy. The amount of investment in the first stage is estimated at €200 million. According to Kommersant’s interlocutor in Brussels, the Italian side is “trying to present the deal as a fait accompli.” But according to him, there is no real progress either in the transfer of the certificate or in the unfreezing of shares, although the removal of the arrest from UAC shares may occur when the exchange of frozen assets with foreigners is scaled up.
Not much is known about MarkAB: in 2019 and 2022, the company and its Indian subsidiary acquired two engineering and construction companies in India. There are no aviation projects in its portfolio yet. But, according to two business consultants from the UAE, such non-publicity is typical for local funds.
EASA issued an A-176 type certificate for the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (RRJ-95B) on February 3, 2012. The validation process began in parallel with the aircraft certification in the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) in Russia since 2004. The Superjet became the first Russian passenger airliner certified according to the EASA CS-25 aviation rules, which allowed it to be delivered to the EU. After February 24, 2022, the certificate was suspended.
Type certificates are rarely transferred, but it is possible. One of the most famous cases is Airbus’ purchase of the Bombardier CSeries project in 2018, which was then renamed the A220. The EASA-approved procedure for transferring a type certificate requires mandatory confirmation of the developer’s certificate (Design Organization Approvals, DOA).
In theory, EASA can transfer a certificate without the participation of the current holder, but only if he “has ceased to exist legally and cannot provide a technical opinion related to continued airworthiness.” The potential new holder must then prove that it can be held responsible for the airworthiness of the aircraft.
The applicant must first of all have a complete set of design documentation, which in the case of the SSJ 100 is owned only by Yakovlev. Without close cooperation of all three parties – EASA, Yakovlev and SJI – Kommersant’s interlocutors assess the chances of assembling the aircraft in the UAE as minimal. At the same time, most of Kommersant’s interlocutors doubt that when implementing a project in the UAE, the Russian side will be able to provide assistance or receive components from foreigners against the backdrop of sanctions.
Kommersant’s sources in the IAC and Aviaregistry RF (Rosaviatsia) doubt the readiness of foreigners to re-certify the aircraft even if they have documentation, drawings, specialists and equipment, since it will take years.
If the plant in the UAE can be built by 2026, the interlocutors of Kommersant estimate the establishment of production even before certification is reached at least five years. “There will be problems in finding alternatives to many components, from air conditioning systems to unique tires, the production line of which the French Michelin stopped in 2022,” says Kommersant’s interlocutor.
Some of Kommersant’s interlocutors believe that the main goal of the UAE authorities in the development of the aviation industry is rather image-building, since, in their opinion, the UAE is hardly seriously afraid of being left without Western-made aircraft. But ten years ago, when planning the development of aviation in the Russian Federation, they also “did not fully assume the current situation,” notes Andrey Shnyrev, a member of the ICAO working group. In addition, the UAE is consistently moving away from betting exclusively on oil trading and is striving to master high-tech industries, “therefore, their ambitions in the aircraft industry are not surprising.”
In his opinion, at the first stage, the European certificate is “not really needed, the prospects for deliveries of the aircraft to Europe are very modest.” In addition, an Italian organization can act as a holder of the certificate, he notes, and then the process of obtaining it, “most likely, will be easier.” “If the Emirati company manages to get four SSJs located in Venice, the experience of their operation will allow us to better understand and implement the concept of the aircraft, train personnel for operation and testing, as well as instructors for further training of personnel,” Andrey Shnyrev adds. He notes the success of China and India in aviation and aerospace development, Turkey and Iran – in unmanned aircraft, and Indonesia and Malaysia – in microelectronics, recalling that the prospects of these countries were also not believed 20 years ago.
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