Russia's UAC Rolls Out MS-21Narrowbody Jet

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.

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.

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.