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A new medium-range passenger jet has been unveiled in Russia ahead of flight tests.
Irkut Corporation hopes the MC-21 – due to enter serial production next year – will rival Airbus and Boeing planes.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev attended the twin-engine aircraft’s glitzy unveiling ceremony, which was held at a factory in Siberia.
Also known as MS-21, the aircraft is still currently undergoing testing.
There will be two varieties of the plane. There’s the MC-21-300, which will have 160 to 211 seats, while the MC-21-200 will be slightly smaller with 130 to 165 seats.
Deliveries are not expected to start until 2018. However, state media has said numerous contracts with domestic and foreign carriers have already been agreed.
Irkut is a subsidiary of the state-controlled United Aircraft Corporation, which has said the new plane would be able to service routes of up to 3,976.78 miles.
And they’ve also said its operational costs would be up to 15% cheaper than current generation aircraft.
