Antonov said on Wednesday that it has no plans to open an assembly line for its planes in Canada, contrary to what Le Devoir newspaper said, citing sources.
An article published on July 10 revealed that the Ukrainian manufacturer has opened a subsidiary in Québec, Antonov Aircraft Canada, based in Montreal.
Le Devoir interviewed an executive at Gold Leaf Aviation, which claims to represent Antonov in the country. According to director Desmond Burke, the company is seeking an agreement between the Ukrainian and Canadian governments to establish an assembly line for the AN-74 cargo jet.
The high-wing aircraft, which uses the Coanda effect to perform short take-offs and landings, was developed in the 1970s and would undergo a modernization that could include Pratt & Whitney engines, the newspaper also says.
The director of Gold Leaf revealed that the project would count on investment from funds from the Middle East.
On its social networks, Antonov stated that “information published in Le Devoir newspaper in the article ‘Le géant ukrainien Antonov veut atterrir au Québec’ (‘Ukrainian giant ANTONOV wants to land in Quebec’) is not true.”
Resumption of AN-74 production
The Ukrainian government, in fact, is looking for an international partner to resume production of the AN-74, but at the plant of Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Company (KSAMC).
UkrOboronProm, the state-owned company that controls Ukraine’s aeronautical industry, published a public call in February offering the industrial complex through investments to modernize the aircraft in addition to paying off factory debts.
Although the AN-74 has several qualities such as STOL capability, it is a slow aircraft, capable of reaching only 560 km/h of cruising speed. Antonov developed a variant, the AN-74K-300, which replaced the high-wing configuration with under-wing pylons.
