[2008_2008]

Russian airline Aeroflot has been informed that plane maker Sukhoi will delay the first deliveries of its Superjet 100 aircraft for one year, the deputy head of Aeroflot, Lev Koshlyakov said on Thursday.
"We got a letter from (Sukhoi general director Mikhail) Pogosyan explaining that this is the case," Koshlyakov said.
He added that Sukhoi, which is now testing the new passenger plane, has pledged to make the first deliveries in the third quarter of 2009.
Aeroflot, Russia's flagship airline, had expected delivery of 30 of the planes this year.
The Superjet's first flight, initially planned for 2007, was delayed by several months, and the aircraft took off for the first time in May.
Aeroflot has already said it would fill the temporary gap in its fleet by signing short-term leases on other planes until its Superjets are delivered.
The aircraft, designed to replace older Tupolev-134 and Yakovlev-42 planes on routes between Russia's regional cities, is a joint creation of the civil aviation unit of Russia's state aviation corporation and US plane maker Boeing.