MOSCOW, February 4. /TASS/. The coronavirus pandemic created problems for the aircraft industry but Russia and China continue their project for the creation of a wide-body long-range jet, press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

The Kremlin’s spokesman highlighted aircraft engineering when listing topics discussed during summit talks in Beijing. "The aircraft industry is the powerhouse of industrial cooperation," Peskov said. "This comprises helicopters and the wide-body long-range passenger jet CR-929," he noted.

"Progress is slower than we would like" in the airliner development project, the Kremlin’s spokesperson said. "The market fell victim to COVID in the case with long-range airplanes; the demand for such aircraft dropped but work continues nevertheless," Peskov said.

Russia and China have been involved in the wide-body long-range aircraft projects for several years. The airplane will have 280 seats and a flight range of 12,000 km in the base version. The total budget for the program was estimated at about $13 bln.