VLM (1992) (Antwerp) says the arrival of its first, and western Europe's first, SSJ 100/95 has been delayed until the third quarter of next year as the type completes its certification.

"Delivery of the aircraft to VLM is being postponed from April 2015 to enable the completion of EASA certification of features on the long-range variant, including takeoff and landing flaps settings, which are modified from the EASA-certified base model Superjet and which bring significant performance enhancements," it said in a statement.

The Belgian ACMI specialist, which recently entered the regional European scheduled market, signed a Letter of Intent with Moscow-based aircraft lessor Ilyushin Finance Co. (IFC) in October last year under which VLM would take delivery of two SSJ100-95LR aircraft in April 2015 on 12-year operating leases. The LOI included options for two further aircraft in addition to purchase rights for ten aircraft.

The contract's validity has been subject to speculation in the local Belgian press given the European Union's current stand off with Russia over the Ukrainian crisis. Last week, local paper, De Tijd, claimed VLM executives had confirmed that the LOI had been cancelled but could not give exact reasons stating only that the "problem is not with us."