MOSCOW, May 28. /TASS/. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin informed Russia’s President Vladimir Putin about the first flight of Russia’s new medium-haul passenger plane. The president congratulated the producers and all personnel of the sector with this event, the president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.

"Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin reported to the president on the phone, saying our medium-haul plane made the first test flight," Peskov said.

"The country leader has called president of the Irkut Corporation, head of the Yakovlev Bureau Oleg Demchenko, greeting him, the corporation’s staff and the sector’s personnel with this outstanding event," the press secretary added.

In Russia’s new history, only one airliner, the regional Sukhoi Superjet 100, has been manufactured from scratch. The plane performed the first flight in 2008 and was made operational in 2011. The MC-21 has a flight range of 6,400 kilometers (3,977 miles), while the Sukhoi Superjet 100 can cover a distance of 4,578 kilometers (2,845 miles). The MC-21 will be able to carry 211 passengers, while the Sukhoi Superjet 100 airliner’s seating capacity is 108.

The current portfolio of orders for MC-21 is 285 airliners, 185 of which have been contracted on prepayment. The first client is Russia’s Aeroflot, which plans to have 50 MC-21 in its fleet. In April, the company’s director general, Vitaly Savelyev, said they expect first three airliners in 2019.