Russia's UAC Rolls Out MS-21Narrowbody Jet

Jens Flottau
Leonid Faerberg/Transport-Photo.com

Russia’s Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev traveled to Irkutsk to deliver a speech in front of the dramatically lit MS-21. His presence underscores the political importance of the event for the new aircraft that serves as a powerful symbol of civic pride. Although much delayed and far over budget, the aircraft received substantial financial support in spite of the extremely straitened national budget. The MC-21 designation on the fuselage is in the Cyrillic alphabet that Russian uses. The Cyrillic C is the same as an S in the Latin alphabet used in English.

 

Leonid Faerberg/Transport-Photo.com

The MS-21 is powered by the Pratt & Whitney PW1400G geared turbofan for now, which is a variant of the family of engines that also equip the Bombardier C Series, Embraer E2 jets and Airbus A320neo family. The Russia-manufactured Aviadvigatel PD-14 will be offered as a second engine choice later.

 

Leonid Faerberg/Transport-Photo.com

UAC has approximately 240 orders and commitments for the MS-21, most of which are from state-owned leasing and financing institutions. Azerbaijan Airlines signed up for an undisclosed number of aircraft at the Irkutsk roll out.

 

Russia hopes the Irkut MS-21 will be the vehicle that places it back on the world stage of civil aircraft manufacturing. The first prototype was presented with much fanfare at the official roll-out ceremony in Irkutsk this week.

Jens Flottau

Based in Frankfurt, Germany, Jens leads Aviation Week’s global commercial coverage. He covers program updates and developments at Airbus, and as a frequent long-haul traveler, he often writes in-depth airline profiles worldwide.

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