MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/. Baikal, a Russian single-engine utility plane to be used by local airlines and in hard-to-reach areas, will make its maiden flight in early 2022, Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov has told reporters.
"This will definitely take place early [next] year," he said.
Earlier, Manturov said that the serial production of the nine-seat plane is to begin in 2023. The Ural Civil Aviation Plant expects to sign a solid contract for the production of ten aircraft in 2023-2025, the plant’s Sales and Marketing Director Oleg Bogomolov told TASS this summer.
According to him, the plane should cost 120 million rubles (about $1.6 million at the current exchange rate) in its basic version. The potential state order for the aircraft is estimated at 300 planes by 2030.
Russian light multipurpose single-engine aircraft Baikal was designed by Ural Civil Aviation Plant’s subsidiary Baikal Engineering to replace the outdated Soviet-made An-2 aircraft. The plane was created to increase transport accessibility of remote Russian regions and help develop local air service.
The plane can carry a payload of two tonnes and cover up to 1,500 kilometers with the cruise speed of 300 kmph.