The airline "Belavia" has expressed interest in purchasing Russian aircraft, including the MC-21 and Sukhoi Superjet New (SJ-100). The company's CEO, Igor Cherginets, emphasized that if possible, the airline would acquire these aircraft "as early as tomorrow."
Cherginets explained that the carrier's interest is not related to any requirement to "get rid of any Western aircraft" in the company's fleet. For "Belavia," it is primarily related to the "desire and need to acquire new Russian aircraft," especially if the latter are produced jointly with Belarus.
Certain components and spare parts for these aircraft are already being produced in our country. We have very good relations with the "United Aircraft Corporation," PJSC "Yakovlev" — we meet frequently, and certain preliminary agreements have been signed.
Cherginets noted that, despite the current stage of testing and refinement, the company is already ready to purchase the MC-21 and Sukhoi Superjet New. The only obstacle to purchases is that the aircraft are currently in the testing and refinement stage. It has also not yet been possible to fully establish domestic production of all foreign components. "However, the process is underway, and I am confident that everything will ultimately work out," he added. According to the CEO, the production rate of aircraft, even among renowned manufacturers such as Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, or Bombardier, is never high.
It never happens that you say something and everything works out the next day. This is technology, innovation, a complex production process at enterprises. It is clear that something needs to be refined and updated somewhere.
The CEO of "Belavia" said that Russia plans to "produce a thousand different aircraft by 2030, not only the MC-21 and Sukhoi Superjet New, but also other aircraft." Earlier, www1.ru wrote about the ambitious plans of just one United Aircraft Corporation to build more than 600 aircraft for Russia's aircraft fleet by 2030. The Russian government has already allocated and ordered the allocation of 865.6 billion rubles to support civil aviation construction until 2030. However, the release and delivery of the MC-21 and SJ-100 have been constantly postponed.
Why "Belavia" Will Not Be Able to Buy Aircraft "As Early As Tomorrow"?
Aircraft equipped with domestic equipment do not meet the stated technical characteristics. For example, the MC-21-310 turned out to be 5.75 tons heavier than its predecessor, the MC-21-300. This is due to the fact that the MC-21-310 uses a heavier base compared to the MC-21-300, where foreign components were used. This situation arose due to the use of Russian composites and new systems.
As a result, with a maximum load of 20.3 tons, the aircraft is capable of covering a distance of no more than 2.8 thousand kilometers and climbing to a maximum altitude of 7 kilometers. Experts believe that without reducing the weight of the aircraft, it is impossible to increase its thrust.
One of the main problems faced by the import-substituted SJ-100 aircraft is the Russian PD-8 engine, which did not confirm its stated characteristics during testing. In December 2023, aircraft manufacturers concluded that additional work on the engine was necessary.
Read materials on the topic:
Russia and Belarus will release the first joint aircraft by 2026
ODK: The SJ-100 aircraft model with PD-8 engines has passed all tests
Deliveries of SJ-100 with Russian PD-2 engines postponed to 2026
We will fly on them. Rostec has again postponed the release of the MC-21 and explained why
