The certification process for the MC-21-310 medium-range airliner is gaining momentum. In December of this year, four prototype aircraft took to the skies simultaneously, and the level of certification readiness reached 69%, notes the analytical resource "Letaem vmeste".
The authors noted that the airliners numbered 73051 and 73054 are performing auxiliary work, while the main burden falls on flight aircraft 005 and 006.
Aircraft No. 73055 appears to have reached an optimal operating rhythm. In December, it completed 12 flights, logging a record 52 hours. On 19 December, it also flew to Irkutsk, from where it accompanied the flight of "Superjet" 97024 to Novosibirsk. On 25 December, it completed a flight to Yamal, to Sabetta, lasting about 6.5 hours.
Aircraft No. 73057 has been completing nine flights for the second month in a row. The aircraft is undergoing a cycle of certification tests for stability and controllability characteristics with Russian control system actuators.
On 18 December 2025, the aircraft reached its service ceiling in flight of 12,055 meters and demonstrated a record ground speed of 1,026 km/h.
It should be noted that the most discussed issue surrounding the MC-21 remains its short flight range — only 3,800 km instead of 5,100 km.
Earlier, 2.2 billion rubles were allocated for reducing the aircraft's weight. Aircraft manufacturers must solve this task by the end of 2027. Aviation experts proposed two main ways to solve the aircraft overweight problem.