MOSCOW: Russian regional carrier Yamal Airlines said on Monday it was cancelling its planned purchase of 10 Sukhoi Superjet 100s, the same type of aircraft involved in a fatal crash-landing the previous day, the TASS news agency reported.
Yamal announced its decision hours after Russia’s transport minister said there was no reason to ground the domestically-produced aircraft despite the incident on Sunday which killed 41 people, including at least two children.
TASS cited Vasily Kryuk, Yamal’s general director, as saying his company was dropping plans to buy 10 more Sukhoi Superjets because servicing costs were too high.
Yamal currently operates 15 of the planes, making it Russia’s second-biggest operator of the Superjet after Aeroflot.