Azerbaijan is working on the organization of assembly of new Ukrainian transport aircraft An-178 with a carrying capacity of up to 18 tonnes designed by Kyiv-based Antonov State Enterprise at own production facilities.
"On behalf of the government I am authorized to say that Azerbaijan is interested in assembling An-178 on the territory of Azerbaijan," AZAL President Jahangir Askerov said.
Askerov said that in May 2015 Antonov and Azerbaijan's Silk Way Airlines signed a contract to assembly 10 transport aircraft An-178 in Ukraine and ship them to the airlines. The first two planes are to be delivered by late 2018 under the contract and the rest of eight planes will be shipped upon a mutual agreement of the parties, Interfax reports.
"We hope that by the middle of 2018 when we receive the first plane, production facilities for assembling An-178 in Azerbaijan would be ready," he added.
