ABU DHABI, February 18. /TASS/. A preliminary agreement has been reached with an airline from Slovenia on the transfer of Sukhoi Superjet-100 (SSJ-100) aircraft from Irish airline CityJet, Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov told reporters on Monday.

"The aircraft, which will be withdrawn from the CityJet, will remain in Europe, there is already a preliminary agreement with an airline from Slovenia," he said.

Earlier, Vedomosti wrote that CityJet, the only European operator of the Russian aircraft, had returned SSJ-100 to the lessor. According to the newspaper, Brussels Airlines, for which flights were carried out by CityJet aircraft, refused to use them due to lack of spare parts. According to Vedomosti, the aircraft can be transferred to the Slovenian Adria.

Manturov also noted that the Irish airline refusing SSJ-100 is "this is not news, these issues have been under discussing for a long time." "The main problem is that they could not, unfortunately, choose a high-quality business model using the SSJ-100," he added, noting that CityJet’s decision was not related to the quality of the aircraft or its maintenance.

At the end of November last year it was reported that the manufacturer of the Superjet - Sukhoi Civil Aircraft and the Slovenian Adria Airways signed an agreement of intent to acquire 15 SSJ-100 aircraft. At the time it was reported that deliveries are planned starting from 2019. The parties also agreed to set up a joint venture for maintenance and repair of SSJ100 at Ljubljana Airport.