Passengers To Get Prominence In MC-21

Wide and comfortable seats, extra leg room and more space for your cabin baggage are usually a luxury only business class travellers can afford. Now, the economy class traveller can indulge in the same extravagance should airlines begin incorporating the MC-21, designed and built by Russian plane-maker Irkut Corp, into their fleet. With 235 international orders already in the bag, Irkut hopes to become a game changer when it begins the first round of deliveries in 2017. Designed to save 24% in fuel consumption, reduce about 7 minutes in turnover time, Irkut plans on setting up service centres for maintenance and repairs in countries that use the MC-21, according to Kyrill Budaev, vice president (marketing), Irkut Corp. “Our approach is to go to the airlines, ask them in what way they provide services and negotiate with them to provide the same. It is not a matter of money but about how many aircrafts are sold worldwide,” he said. Attributing additional cabin space of 30% to a wider fuselage, its other features include innovative technology like improved aerodynamics, new engines and use of composites in the wing’s load-bearing to make it lighter and thus travel faster. “Our goal is to provide the future level of comfort. The game is changing every year, we hope to be the game changers with the MC-21,” Budaev said. Although reducing travel-time by 7 minutes does not seem like much to the frequent flyer, the time economy per year will come up to 170 hours. Irkut intends to manufacture 40 aircraft in the first year and double the target to 70 the next depending on the demand. The aircraft manufacturer also aims on increasing the overall additional profit of an airliner by $4 million. On board climate control will also ensure that children and older passengers who usually suffer from air-sickness will feel much better thanks to the modern biological filters fitted inside the aircraft. Upcoming variants like the MC-21-300 will be able to ferry 180 passengers while the MC- 21-200 can only carry 180 flyers. By: Bindiya Thomas