Ukraine in Talks with Vietnam on Upgrading An-26 and the Supply of An-148 Planes

17 November 2012

AN-26 Vietnam People's Air Force (photo : Tango Kilo)

Ukraine in talks with Vietnam over supplies of An-148 planes

KIEV (Itar-Tass) —— Ukraine is in talks with Vietnam on the supply of its An-148 planes, Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov said during an official visit to Hanoi.

“We have held concrete talks on the supply of An-148 planes to Vietnam and on upgrading An-26 planes,” Azarov said, adding that the two sides discussed cooperation in the military-technical sphere.

An-148 (photo : United Airlines)

The new generation regional passenger plane An-148 was presented at Hanoi’s airport on November 15. General designer Dmitry Kiva, of the state-run enterprise Antonov, briefed the audience on the advantages of regional liners An-148 and An-158. He also suggested upgrading 20 An-26 planes that have been used in Vietnam for more than 30 years.

“We have suggested upgrading the An-26 in pretty much the same way as India’s An-32. This will make it possible to prolong their service life for more than 20 years. The upgrade will be more effective than the purchase of new planes of the same class,” he said.

An-148-100V is the base model, designed to carry 70-80 passenger on international and domestic routes.

  

(Itar Tass)