Sukhoi's civil aircraft division is forecasting sales of 345 Superjet 100s, including the business-jet version, over the period to 2030

Most of these aircraft will be sold in Russia and the former Soviet states, the airframer expects, as well as south-east Asia and Latin America.

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft has given the estimate in its latest annual report.

President Alexander Rubtsov tells FlightGlobal that he is expecting a "significant volume" of sales on the local market, and a "few more deals" involving exports. Geopolitical pressures are not a issue, he claims.

"The main drivers are technical and economical," he says. "We didn't see too much concern [from customers] about politics."

But the company is engaged in a substitution programme to swap out parts which, under US restrictions, limit the type's export potential.

Rubtsov also states that Sukhoi intends to double the amount of Russian content in the aircraft, to around 30%.

Sukhoi is expecting to produce around 30 Superjets this year, a similar figure to 2017. Half of last year's aircraft, according to its figures, were produced in the fourth quarter.

The airframer is continuing to refine the Superjet 100, with developments including its 'sabrelet' wing-tips, intended to improve fuel-burn by 3%,

Sukhoi has been concentrating on modifications to take the aircraft's capacity to 110 seats, and its operating environment up to airport altitudes of 4,000m and temperatures of 50C.

It also refers to a cargo version and range improvements to the business-jet variant – as well as the planned development of a shrunk 75-seat model.

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft has an affiliate organisation, SuperJet International, located in Italy. Following the winding-down of Italian shareholder participation in the Superjet programme, the manufacturer's annual report states that the company is working on "integration" of the two operations, without elaborating.

Source: Cirium Dashboard