With it's initial design having begun in 2006, Russia's Irkut MC 21 civil airliner made its maiden flight in the city of Irkutsk in Eastern Siberia 11 years later on 28 May 2017.
The MC 21 (MS 21 in the Latin alphabet), is expected to enter commercial service in 2019, when it is expected to provide stiff competition not only to the Boeing 737 (USA) and the Airbus 320 (European Union). which have enjoyed a global duopoly until now, but also newer rivals such as the COMAC C919 (China), the Embraer E190-E2 (Brazil), the Mitsubishi MRJ 90 regional jet (Japan), the TRJ 328 and TRJ 628 regional jets (Turkey) and others, all of which claim significantly improved fuel efficiency and significantly lower operational costs. Irkut claims that the MC-21's fifth-generation turbofan engines consume 20% less fuel.
The above compilation of videos about the MC 21 on my You Tube channel is courtesy of AINtv, Russia Today, United Aircraft Corporation, Vesti and Sputnik, with the soundtrack - the classic and rock versions of the Russian National Anthem - courtesy of the Ruska You Tube channel. A big spaciba! (thanks) to you all.
THE MALAYSIAN CONNECTION
On 7 June 2010, Russia's Itar-TASS reported that a Malaysian company, Crecom Burj Resources (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Crecom Burj Berhad), signed a contract worth US$5 million (about RM16.65 billion at the time) with Irkut to purchase 50 units of the MC-21 (25 MC-21 200 and 25 MC-21 300 variants) starting from 2016, making Crecom Burj Resources Irkut's first international customer for the MC-21. The aircraft can be fitted with between 130 to 211 seats depending on variant and seating configuration, and the aircraft has a range of between 5,500 and 6,000 kilometres. The plane which made the maiden flight is an MC-21 300 variant, whilst MC-21 200 which is smaller and the MC-21 400 are in the pipeline.
Crecom Burj expected the MC-21 would enter commercial service in 2014. The company intended to lease the planes to South East Asia airlines, from which it had received some interest. Crecom Burj Resources also signed a memorandum of agreement with IBH Investment Bank Ltd, which will act as lead arranger for funding the aircraft’s purchase.
However, Malaysia Business Directory reported that the holding company Crecom Burj Berhad was winding up as of 24 December 2015.
Meanwhile, Irkut reported that it had received 175 orders for the MC-21 at time of its inaugural flight. Fifth of these orders are said to be from Russia's national airline Aeroflot.
Besides the MC-21, China's COMAC C919 which made its maiden flight three weeks earlier is in the same league as the MC-21 and together promise to be a significant challenge to the Boeing 737 and the Airbus 320 in the growing Asia-Pacific air travel market.
Boeing expects worldwide demand for 35,280 new civil airliners between 2013 and 2032, of which 12,820 or over one third, will be in the Asia-Pacific region.
Meanwhile, not to miss out on the party, India's government has revived its SARAS civil airplane programme and a 19 seat SARAS prototype is expected to make its maiden flight this month. The SARAS is expected to pave the way for India's aerospace industry to produce larger 70-seat aircraft, intended primarily to serve India' domestic air travel market, especially the small airports across this vast and populous country.
These initiatives to develop their own civil aircraft are bids by China, Russia and India to wean themselves from reliance on imported western technology.
The 21st Century has been described as the Eurasian Century and and it looks like the world is heading in that direction.
Charles
