Greenland Express is going to purchase 5 Sukhoi SuperJet 100 aircraft

Greenland Express (Iceland) is going to purchase five Sukhoi SuperJet 100 aircraft. It was stated by the carrier’s CEO Gert Brask. Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC, manufacturer of SSJ100 liners) confirmed that it negotiated with the Icelandic carrier, but declined to unveil any details, Izvestiya reports.

«We have been negotiating with SCAC for several months, Brask said. —We hope to take delivery of two aircraft of the type in 2016, two more ones – in 2017 and the last vehicle – in 2018. We would like to purchase Sukhoi SuperJet, because we are the local Icelandic carrier and these jets may be operated under low temperatures. Moreover, the passenger capacity of these jets is also suitable for us — Airbus and Boeing do not have analogues of SSJ 100, these companies don’t care about small airlines”.

Brask declined to unveil financial details of the deal. The liner’s list price is $36 million. Greenland Express does not look like a reliable partner – the carrier has temporary suspended flights: having started its activities in June 2014, it was forced to suspend flights until the end of 2015 in September 2014. At present the carrier is in the process of obtaining Air Operator Certificate.

Greenland Express operates flights on local routes between Iceland and Denmark. According to planespotters.net, the carrier’s fleet comprises only one aircraft — single-aisle medium-haul Fokker 100 (the last vehicle of the type was manufactured in 1997, Fokker was declared bankrupt in 1996). For reference, the largest Icelandic carrier Icelandair operates 26 Boeing 757 aircraft (and it has also placed orders for 16 Boeing 737 jets).