Motor Sich Airlines (M9, Zaporizhzhia) Commercial Director Oleh Khrystov has told Interfax Ukraine that his airline is studying the use of An-148-100s on its thinner domestic flights.
"Large aircraft are not needed on regional flights, here we need aircraft like our An-24, An-140 aircraft for short routes," he said.
Last year, the CEO of AtlasGlobal UA (Lviv), Sergey Podgorodetsky, announced his airline would also consider using An-148s on its planned domestic and regional network. Talks were reportedly held with Antonov Design Bureau (Gostomel) in July last year though nothing has been heard of since.
A division of the aero engine manufacturer Motor Sich, Motor Sich Airlines operates a fleet that includes Yak-42s, An-24s, An-140s, An-72/-74s, An-12s, and various Mil Helicopters. It offers scheduled flights between Kyiv Igor Sikorsky, Kherson, Uzhhorod, and Zaporizhzhia locally and Moscow Vnukovo in neighbouring Russia.
