Russia, China continue cooperating on developing long-haul plane - First Deputy PM Manturov
MOSCOW. May 12 (Interfax) - Russia and China intend to continue cooperation on the creation of a long-haul wide-body plane, as it has not been interrupted, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov told Interfax on Friday.
"Maybe, we have not stopped it [cooperation]," he said in response to a question about whether Russia could return to cooperation with China on the development of a wide-body plane.
As reported, in 2016, the Russian and Chinese governments signed an agreement on "joint implementation of the program for the development, production, commercialization and after-sales service of the wide-body plane and the family created on its basis." In 2017, China-Russia Commercial Aircraft International Corporation Ltd (CRAIC), a joint venture of PJSC United Aircraft Corporation (UAC, part of Rostec) and Chinese aircraft manufacturer COMAC, which have 50% each in the JV, was established in Shanghai to build the Russian-Chinese CR929 aircraft.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the CR929 was expected to make its first test flight in 2023 and its commercial deliveries were planned to begin after 2025. In July 2020, the UAC management announced a push of deliveries to 2028-2029. At the time, the project was going through the Gate-3 stage, which includes collecting and scrutinizing proposals from the suppliers of systems and units to determine the final configuration of the aircraft.
In August 2022, the UAC management said that work on the CR929 was continuing, but given the impact of the pandemic and the imposition of sanctions on Russia due to the conflict in Ukraine, the format of participation in the project would have to be updated. Manturov said at the time that Russia would participate as a supplier of units and components for the plane. He confirmed Russia's readiness to join the project "based on a contract of executors" last May.
At the same time, in February this year, the joint venture LLC Engineering Center of the CYAR929 Program, established by CRAIC in 2019 for the project of development of the CR929 long-haul passenger plane, filed a request for liquidating the legal entity. The company is currently undergoing the relevant procedures.