Russian MC-21 to Commence Commercial Fights as Cargo Aircraft

Russia’s sanctions-hit MC-21 airliner will commence commercial operations with Rossiya Airlines as a cargo carrier instead of as a passenger plane.

The two MC-21 aircraft equipped with Pratt & Whitney engines imported earlier have already been type certified. Future supplies of these engine have been halted due to US and European sanctions forcing Russia to build its own medium-haul aircraft engine, the PD-14.

We have informed our colleagues (in Rossiya Airlines) we will give (MC-21 aircraft) for the so-called controlled operation. The aircraft will begin to fly, (but) will not be on the schedule and it will not be possible to buy a ticket on them, but nevertheless the planes will begin to operate. I am sure, will find their place in the air transportation market, said Yuri Slyusar, General Director,k United Aircraft Corporation.

“We will begin to receive data on their operation, the pilots will begin to learn, the crews will begin to train how to handle this aircraft. We will also carry out transportation, insofar as by today's times every aircraft counts, including these two aircraft,” he said an interview with Russia 24 TV Channel earlier this week.

Future aircraft will be equipped with the PD-14 engine. As for the Russian engine, our task is to intensify the test program. There are a large number of MS-21 flights with a Russian engine. We have two aircraft allocated for this. We hope that now, under the deadlines that we have set, we, together with our fellow engine builders, will compress the program as much as possible and receive the approval of the type certificate with the new engine as soon as possible.

The import substitution project (for the The MC-21) has been going on for several years, and now we are at a stage when we will begin to receive domestic systems, domestic units and domestic engines, install them on the aircraft and conduct a test program. Our task in this program is to completely fly away in 2023 and start delivering the MS-21 with a completely Russian "face" to domestic airlines from 2024 onwards.

In reply to a question he said that scheduled commercial operations with Russian air carriers will begin by 2024. Pilots will be trained, crews will be trained; At the same time, we are not stopping work on the creation of infrastructure, or after-sales service: we build warehouses, create a stock of spare parts, master all forms of maintenance, so that by the time we start operation, all this infrastructure, all this ecosystem related to the operation and operation of the MC-21, has already been created.

He said despite ongoing efforts to substitute foreign parts with Russia-made ones, the MC-21 project still has 50% foreign-made parts. “Now, if you count with the Russian engine, it is about 50/50 of domestic and foreign systems. We need to replace this 50% as soon as possible. The task itself is quite ambitious, because in principle, completely modern aviation complexes are not being created within one country. Nevertheless, we understand which enterprises and with the help of what solutions domestic systems can be made.”

The two MC-21 aircraft equipped with Pratt & Whitney engines imported earlier have already been type certified. Future supplies of these engine have been halted due to US and European sanctions forcing Russia to build its own medium-haul aircraft engine, the PD-14.

We have informed our colleagues (in Rossiya Airlines) we will give (MC-21 aircraft) for the so-called controlled operation. The aircraft will begin to fly, (but) will not be on the schedule and it will not be possible to buy a ticket on them, but nevertheless the planes will begin to operate. I am sure, will find their place in the air transportation market, said Yuri Slyusar, General Director,k United Aircraft Corporation.

“We will begin to receive data on their operation, the pilots will begin to learn, the crews will begin to train how to handle this aircraft. We will also carry out transportation, insofar as by today's times every aircraft counts, including these two aircraft,” he said an interview with Russia 24 TV Channel earlier this week.

Future aircraft will be equipped with the PD-14 engine. As for the Russian engine, our task is to intensify the test program. There are a large number of MS-21 flights with a Russian engine. We have two aircraft allocated for this. We hope that now, under the deadlines that we have set, we, together with our fellow engine builders, will compress the program as much as possible and receive the approval of the type certificate with the new engine as soon as possible.

The import substitution project (for the The MC-21) has been going on for several years, and now we are at a stage when we will begin to receive domestic systems, domestic units and domestic engines, install them on the aircraft and conduct a test program. Our task in this program is to completely fly away in 2023 and start delivering the MS-21 with a completely Russian "face" to domestic airlines from 2024 onwards.

In reply to a question he said that scheduled commercial operations with Russian air carriers will begin by 2024. Pilots will be trained, crews will be trained; At the same time, we are not stopping work on the creation of infrastructure, or after-sales service: we build warehouses, create a stock of spare parts, master all forms of maintenance, so that by the time we start operation, all this infrastructure, all this ecosystem related to the operation and operation of the MC-21, has already been created.

He said despite ongoing efforts to substitute foreign parts with Russia-made ones, the MC-21 project still has 50% foreign-made parts. “Now, if you count with the Russian engine, it is about 50/50 of domestic and foreign systems. We need to replace this 50% as soon as possible. The task itself is quite ambitious, because in principle, completely modern aviation complexes are not being created within one country. Nevertheless, we understand which enterprises and with the help of what solutions domestic systems can be made.”