The Russian MC-21 jet to be certified in December 2021

Russian aviation authorities intend to certify the MC-21 passenger jet in December of this year, Deputy Transport Minister Igor Chalik said on Tuesday Oct. 12, tass.com reported.

“Our scheduled completion of MC-21 certification is in December 2021 and I have actually just received a confirmation from the Federal Air Transport Agency that we are on track so far. The MC-21 must be certified in December of this year,” the official said.

The MC-21 has comparable mission, configuration and is a direct competitor to the Airbus A220-300, A320neo family, Boeing 737 MAX, Chinese Comac C919, and Brazilian Embraer E-Jet E2.

The Irkut MC-21  is a single-aisle airliner, developed by the Yakovlev Design Bureau and produced by its parent Irkut, a branch of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) in Russia. The initial design started in 2006 and detailed design was ongoing in 2011. After delaying the scheduled introduction from 2012, Irkut rolled out the first MC-21-300 on 8 June 2016 and first flew the aircraft on 28 May 2017. After several years of delays, the first deliveries are expected for Russian airlines in 2022 and international customers in 2025.

The twinjet has a carbon fibre reinforced polymer wing and is powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1000G or Aviadvigatel PD-14 turbofans. The standard MC-21-300 has a capacity of 132–163 passengers in a two-class configuration and 165–211 in a single class, and a range up to 6,000–6,400 km (3,200–3,500 nmi). It will be followed by a shortened MC-21-200 version.

By July 2018, it had received 175 firm orders and recorded nearly 150 intentions. the last order received was in 2019 for 5 jets.