OREANDA-NEWS. The Norwegian airline Norwegian Air Shuttle, which is one of the three European budget companies (low-cost airlines), has signed a memorandum with Sukhoi Civil Aircraft on the supply of 40 Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) aircraft with the possibility of flying along the Trans-Siberian route. This was reported to the Russian media by two sources close to different sides of the transaction, and a source familiar with the terms of the memorandum.

According to the document, the delivery will be carried out in two stages: the first one is supposed to lease ten SSJ-100s for the Argentinean subsidiary Norwegian Air, and then another 30 for the parent company. According to two interlocutors of the Russian media, in return, the carrier asks for an opportunity to fly along the Trans-Siberian route and discounts on such flights (the so-called royalties, they are received by Aeroflot). We are talking about flights from Europe to Asia - China, Japan, South Korea, India and the Philippines. This route is the shortest from Western Europe to Japan and Southeast Asia. Saving on a pair flight (round-trip) when using it is about four to five hours, or $ 80 thousand.

For several years, Norwegian Air has been seeking permission for flights along the Trans-Siberian route, the airline has applied to the Norwegian government on this issue, but so far without success, a source close to the Norwegian low-cost airline told the Russian media.