The Russian Emergencies Ministry plans to purchase eight Be-200 amphibious aircraft to fight wildfires in the next two and a half years, Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Monday. An order for the aircraft, which cost around 1 billion rubles each, will be placed shortly, Shoigu said.

Sukhoi scores sales success as aviation rebounds from crisis

Aviation has rebounded from the economic crisis and the proof is in the US$ 47bn of orders signed at last week's biannual Farnborough International Airshow. While the 2008 Farnborough air show held before the start of the global economic recession saw a total of $89 billion worth of deals signed, aviation and aerospace executives were pleased with the resounding rebound.