The first MC-21-300 was rolled out in June 2016, and made its maiden flight in May 2017. Last October, the test plane made its first long-haul flight from Irkutsk, Siberia to Zhukovsky, outside Moscow, flying a distance of over 4,300 km.

Since its unveiling, over 200 MC-21s have been ordered by Russian airlines, including Aeroflot, IrAero and Red Wings. India, Hungary, and Bangladesh have also shown interest in the plane. India is even eying localization of the MC-21's production, in accordance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' initiative.

In addition to the home market, Irkut has ambitious plans to sell the plane abroad in large quantities, particularly to the BRICS countries.

After its expected certification by Russian civil aviation authorities in 2019, Irkut is hoping to receive European Aviation Safety Agency certification in 2020.

Yakovlev began development work on the MC-21 in the mid-late 2000s to replace the remaining Soviet-era Tupolev, Yak and Antonov designs operating in Russia's commercial aviation park, and of eventually putting the squeeze on Boeing and Airbus. Work intensified in 2014 after the downturn in relations with Western countries over the crisis in Ukraine.

The Russian government has taken a number of steps to allow Russian airlines to win back the commercial and passenger aircraft market at home, and to gradually return the country to the status of a civil aviation superpower. Together with the short-range Sukhoi Superjet 100 and an updated and modernized long-haul Ilyushin Il-96, the MC-21 is expected to become a major step toward achieving that goal.

Sputnik