RuAviation

The first flight of the MC-21 aircraft took place on 28 May 2017. Aircraft 73051 lifted off from the Irkutsk Aviation Plant airfield, completing a 30-minute flight. The crew consisted of test pilot and Hero of Russia Oleg Kononenko and test pilot and Hero of Russia Roman Taskaev.

At the initial stage, the aircraft incorporated foreign components and systems. Certification and the start of commercial operations were planned for 2019–2020 with this foreign configuration. However, the introduction of sanctions against Russia impacted the project, causing repeated delays. Despite this, development continued without interruption. Under the import substitution programme, approximately 80 per cent of equipment and systems were replaced with Russian equivalents.

Oleg Yevtushenko, executive director of the state corporation Rostec, noted that the MC-21 became a symbol of resilience to sanctions pressure. The aircraft is equipped with PD-14 engines, and its composite wing is manufactured entirely from Russian carbon fibre composite materials (CFC). To support the dry fibre layup process, specialised equipment was developed at the South-Russian State Polytechnic University named after M.I. Platov in Novocherkassk. This equipment forms one of the critical systems in the production of the MC-21 wing.

Production of the aircraft involves enterprises from numerous regions across Russia. Key components and assemblies with a high degree of localisation, manufactured without foreign suppliers, are produced in Irkutsk, Ulyanovsk, Perm, Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh, Kazan, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Saratov, Dubna, Tatarstan, and Rostov Region.

In spring 2025, the prototype MC-21 bearing serial number 73055, with partial replacement of foreign components, completed its factory acceptance trials and flew from Irkutsk to Zhukovsky, where certification testing will take place. In summer, the fully import-substituted aircraft 73057 will join the programme. Certification tests are scheduled to continue until autumn 2026. Following their completion, deliveries to airline operators will commence.