IRKUTSK, June 8. /TASS/. Russia will not disappear from the "major league" of world aircraft manufacturing, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday.

"New projects in aircraft manufacturing are understandably not cheap at all. In general, there are not many countries where aircraft manufacturing is developing. It is called ‘the major league’. And we should not disappear from this ‘major league’," Medvedev said at the ceremony of the roll-out of MC-21 new aircraft.

The prime minister added that it is necessary to work in this direction, and "we will continue to renew our park of civilian aircraft."

He added that Russia is capable of designing aircraft that can compete with foreign manufacturers. "Today’s event proves that we are capable of designing such aircraft which moves our aircraft manufacturing industry forward and can compete with other aircraft," Medvedev said.

The prime minister stressed that MC-21 exceeds by technological level "all current flying aircraft." "I am confident that it will be a good aircraft, cost effective and reliable," he concluded.

The Irkut MC-21 is a series of twin-engine short-range and mid-range Russian jet airliners set to replace Soviet Tu-134 and Tu-154 aircraft and its analogues.

The first MC-21 plane is planned to take off this year.

Serial production of airliners is planned to start after 2020.