MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. Growing demand for air travel boosts interest in Russian aircraft, head of the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) Dmitry Yadrov said in an interview with Rossiya-24 TV channel. According to him, the annual growth in demand for air travel in Russia is 6-7%.

"Our airlines will certainly have demand for such aircraft and the delivery of these aircraft by 2030 will ensure the connectivity of our large country. The demand for air travel, which is growing every year, is around 6-7%," he said.

Yadrov specified that 142 such aircraft are expected to be delivered to Russian airlines by 2030.

Earlier on Monday, a prototype of the Superjet aircraft made its first flight with Russian-nade PD-8 engines. The flight took place in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The aircraft was in the air for about 40 minutes, reached a speed of 500 km/h and an altitude of up to 3,000 m.