Sukhoi Civil Aircraft and Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica Company, have the pleasure to announce the new Business Jet version of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional jet (SBJ).

The announcement was made during the Le Bourget International Airshow by the President of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and General Director of Sukhoi Holding Mr. Mikhail Pogosyan, and the Chief Executive Officer of Alenia Aeronautica and Responsible for Finmeccanica's Aeronautics sector, Mr. Giuseppe Giordo.

The development of the new SBJ version of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) falls within the responsibilities of SuperJet International, the joint venture between Alenia Aeronautica and Sukhoi Holding.

Based on the SSJ100/95 platform, the SBJ will be available in three different configurations: the VIP, the Corporate and the Government.

The VIP Version of the SSJ100 combines outstanding comfort due to its spacious interiors and a superb performance in terms of cost savings.

Several comfort zones are easily tailored in order to satisfy the Customers' specific needs, including the office, the bedroom and the bathroom areas.

The additional fuel tanks in the cargo hold will provide the aircraft with a range of almost 4,300 nm more than double the SSJ100's standard range of 1,645 nm, enabling passengers to fly non stop, for example from Paris to New York.

"Today we are launching the VIP version of SSJ100 aircraft, which is the first development of the aircraft platform. The SSJ100 aircraft that is currently in operation with two airlines, brings together unsurpassed comfort and economic efficiency which is a perfect combination for the future success of the aircraft as a VIP version in the segment of large business jets" said Mikhail Pogosyan, the President of the United Aircraft Corporation and General Director of Sukhoi Holding.

"We are very proud to announce the new the Business configuration of the SSJ100. We decided to launch this new model in the frame of an enlargement of the new generation SSJ100 family. The SBJ is a modern and competitive aircraft based on innovative technologies. Our aim is to meet Customers needs with tailored solutions. With the aircraft in operation, I am confident it will be much easier for us to prove the SSJ100 quality and efficiency to a wide range of customers" stated Mr. Giuseppe Giordo, Chief Executive Officer of Alenia Aeronautica and Responsible for Finmeccanica's Aeronautics sector.

The Certification of the new SBJ is scheduled for the beginning of 2014 with the first deliveries accordingly.

The launch of the new business version comes just two months after the EIS. The first SSJ100 entered into revenue services with Armavia on April 21, 2011. The aircraft was put into operation in an extremely short period of time, two days after the official delivery to the launch customer on April, 19 2011.

On June, 16 the SSJ100 entered into commercial operation with the Russian airline Aeroflot from Moscow to St. Petersburg.

During the first two months of operation the SSJ100 totalized 119 flights and more than 268 hours. Owing to its economic efficiency and operational capabilities, the aircraft confirmed to be suitable both to regional and to short-haul routes.