Bali, Jan 9 (IANS/RIA Novosti): Indonesian carrier Sky Aviation plans to put into operation five Russian Sukhoi Superjet-100 RRJ-95B planes this year.

"The first Sukhoi will arrive in mid-January. We expect it to begin operations in February. The first aircraft will connect Makassar with the Papuan cities of Sorong and Jayapura," the Jakarta Post daily quoted Sky Aviation marketing director Sutito Zainudin as saying.

In November, Indonesia's Civil Aviation Authority issued an airworthiness certificate to the Sukhoi plane allowing the jet's export to Indonesia and its operation by the country's airlines without restrictions.

Sky Aviation ordered 12 SSJ-100s from Russia.

"Not many cities in Indonesia have long runways and this aircraft can land on a runway shorter than 2,000 meters. This helps us to cater the second and third tier cities market," Zainudin said.

In May last year, a SSJ-100 crashed into a mountain while performing a demonstration flight in Indonesia with 45 people onboard, of whom eight were Russians. The passengers included Sukhoi employees. There were no survivors.

The Superjet 100 is a medium-haul passenger aircraft developed by Sukhoi in cooperation with US and European aviation corporations, including Boeing, Snecma, Thales, Messier Dowty, Liebherr Aerospace and Honeywell.

The aircraft is capable of carrying up to 100 passengers for 4,500 km.