Warplane maker unveils airliner

KOMSOMOLSK-ON-AMUR - Russia unveiled its first all-new airliner since the fall of the Soviet Union yesterday, hoping to curb dependence on oil and gas exports and restore pride in its teetering aviation industry.

Sukhoi's Superjet 100 is designed to seat 78-98 passengers and is the fruit of almost a decade of efforts by Russia's largest warplane maker to branch out into commercial passenger jet production targeted at Western airlines.

The jet was inaugurated at a slick ceremony in Russia's Far East, where part of Sukhoi's massive plant has been converted to produce five to six civilian aircraft a month by 2010.

Russia aims to secure at least 10 per cent of the world airliner market with new passenger jets and to take third place among aircraft-producing countries by 2015-2018.

- Reuters