The first MC-21-310 airliner made entirely with domestically produced components performed its maiden flight in Russia on June 26, 2025.
The aircraft took off from Zhukovsky Airport (ZIA) near Moscow, location of a number of Russian aerospace research and development facilities, and landed at the same airport after four hours in the air.
Although the original version of the MC-21 first flew in 2017, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 defense conglomerate Rostec decided to replace all foreign-made components onboard this aircraft type. Crucially, this includes the engines, with the Pratt & Wittney original engine choice having been replaced by the newly developed Russian-made PD-14 high-bypass turbofan engine.
The certification of the MC-21-310 has been delayed several times and it is currently expected to be completed by the summer of 2026.
Russian government-owned airline Aeroflot expects to receive up to 108 MC-21-310 aircraft between the end of 2026 and 2030, nearly half the originally intended number for this period. According to the ch-aviation database, Aeroflot has a total of 198 MC-21-310s on order. The remaining 90 aircraft are slated to be delivered after 2030.
Russia’s other major civilian aircraft program, the Superjet SJ-100, has undergone a similar process of import substitution. The first SJ-100 made entirely with Russian-made components had its maiden flight in August 2023.
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