SINGAPORE, February 7. /TASS/. Flight trials of the second MC-21 aircraft will begin in March, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft President Alexander Rubtsov said on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow 2018.
"We expect that another aircraft will join flight tests in March, and one more in summer," said Rubtsov, whose company is responsible for MC-21 marketing.
As of late January, the first MC-21 aircraft has performed 38 test flights.
The MC-21 aircraft is a medium-range passenger narrow-body aircraft. It is the second large-scale Russian project after Sukhoi Superjet 100. MC-21 has been developed by the Irkut Corporation and the Yakovlev Design Bureau of UAC. The MC-21 made the maiden flight in Irkutsk on May 28, 2017.
Russian flagship air carrier Aeroflot signed a $5-billion contract to purchase 50 aircraft last week.
No foreign contracts have so far been signed, but the aircraft’s maker, United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), said companies from Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania and Iran demonstrated interest in the project.