The UAC announced the expectation of early flight tests of the MC-21 aircraft.

The United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) expects the start of flight tests of the MC-21 aircraft with domestic PD-14 engines in the near future. This was announced on March 31 by Vadim Badekha, CEO of the company, during a meeting with Valentina Matvienko, Speaker of the Federation Council.

He noted that the Superjet passenger aircraft with Russian engines has already been tested.

"And the situation is about the same for the MS-21 program, we expect flight tests to begin in the very near future," TASS quoted him as saying.

Also, according to Badehi, both aircraft are nearing the end of ground testing.

Sky in a jet: a plane with a PD-8 engine made its first flight

Certification is expected in the fall of 2025

Earlier, on March 17, Anton Alikhanov, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, announced plans to make the first certification flight of a fully import-substituted MC-21 aircraft with a Russian PD-14 engine in June–July of this year.

On March 26, Yakovlev Aircraft Manufacturing Company received approval from the Federal Air Transport Agency for the serial production of the MC-21. The agency's commission granted permission after an inspection of the Irkutsk Aviation Plant (IAZ), where the aircraft will be assembled.