Russian ministry hopes for MC-21 airliner certification in Oct, but does not rule out delays

ST. PETERSBURG. April 2 (Interfax) - Russia's Industry and Trade Ministry expects the certification of the MC-21 airliner to take place in October 2026, but it does not rule out delays due to difficulties with certain systems of the aircraft, Industry Minister Anton Alikhanov said.

"Of course [I do not rule out delays]. Again, anything is possible and I won't say that there are no risks," Alikhanov said in response to a question about this from reporters on the sidelines of the International Transport and Logistics Forum.

"Many systems essentially undergo certification together with the airplane. There are problematic components on which the developers have delayed, by a year for some systems [...] So such technical risks were clear from the start of the project. I showed you the preliminary timeframe [in the presentation for the forum - October 2026]. What will be the actual case? We'll hope that it won't be pushed back too much," Alikhanov said.

Prototypes of the MC-21-310 have completed about 30% of the program of certification flights, and about another 200 are expected before the end of this year, the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, Dmitry Yadrov said in March. The certification of the aircraft is expected to be completed before the end of this year, he said.

The certification of the wholly Russian-built SJ-100 airliner is scheduled for August of this year, according to the Industry Ministry's presentation.

Alikhanov said the airliner has now completed 77-78% of the flight program. "So for the Superjet I'm more than confident that we'll certainly have the certificate this year," he said.

He also said the Industry Ministry tentatively expects the Il-114-300 regional airliner to be certified in May. "These are preliminary dates, because everything depends on how certification bodies will accept our documentation from Ilyushin," Alikhanov said.

After this, there are plans to begin contracting the aircraft. "A series of meetings has been held on the provision of subsidized financing for the purchase of a second batch of the planes and the creation of a permanent mechanism, so that we don't work ad hoc [on solving this problem] and have a constant source of financing for subsidized leasing that will be affordable for customers," Alikhanov said.

The first three Il-114s, contracted by state leasing company GTLK several years ago, will be delivered this year, he said, without naming the ultimate recipient.