As Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev said in an interview with the Russia-24 TV channel, the promising aircraft has decreased in price from 455 million rubles to 260 million rubles. This happened a few days after the completion of the Eastern Economic Forum. In fact, a little over a week has passed since that day, September 6.
A few days ago it was 455 million rubles, now it's something around 260 million rubles. [...] The required [takeoff and landing] strip has become three times shorter. We were presented with 1,050 m. <…> We have 33 strips of 1,050 m in the Far East. And that's it. All the others are not suitable. The "Baikal" will not be able to land for all the others. Yesterday I was told, no, 350 m [is enough].
Trutnev noted that the "Baikal" should be safe, be able to land on a short runway and at the same time be inexpensive.
In 2026, it will fly in one version or another. Now it is very important to ensure that this version is exactly what people need.
Recall that Russian President Vladimir Putin at the plenary session of the EEF on September 4 demanded explanations from officials regarding the delay in mass production and stated that the aircraft should be launched "into mass production in the near future." The head of state asked "to accelerate the development of the Baikal light multi-purpose passenger aircraft."
The next day, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov, on the sidelines of the EEF, told reporters about the reasons for the delays in launching production and starting deliveries of the LMS-901 Baikal aircraft to airlines. He, like Trutnev, noted that the domestic new aircraft is expected within the next two years.
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