Russia’s new MC-21 airliner, the first Russian-made narrow-body commercial passenger aircraft designed in the post-Soviet era, successfully completed its maiden flight at Irkutsk on 28 May.

The build programme, which was launched in 2007, is headed by Irkut Corp, a subsidiary of Russia’s government-owned United Aircraft Corp.

The MC-21-300 prototype was rolled out almost a year ago, in early June 2016; the current version has maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 79,250kg and can carry up to 211 passengers up to 6,000km.

A shorter version, MC-21-200, is in the design phase. This will have an MTOW of 72,560kg and accommodate up to 165 passengers.

The MC-21 is powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1400G-JM engines (Russian-made Aviad-vigatel PD-14 engines will be available as an alternative and have just completed initial trials on the Il-76LL ‘flying lab’).

MC-21 certification in Russia is now planned for 2018 with the European Aviation Safety Agency approval to be obtained a year later.

The MC-21 backlog stands at 175 firm orders, mostly from government-owned Russian leasing companies, and more than 100 ‘commitments’. Aeroflot, Russia’s largest carrier, is expected to become the launch operator with first aircraft to be delivered in 2019.