The first production MC-21 became an important stage for Russian civil aviation, but a full replacement of the fleet of foreign airliners will require many years. According to Andrey Patrakov, flight safety expert and founder of RUN AVIA, it will take at least a decade to produce the necessary number of aircraft.

At the same time, the expert believes that it will be difficult to achieve high production rates in the coming years.

According to him, the very fact of the appearance of the production MC-21 is an important achievement, but the project still needs to be tested by real operation. After the start of flights, technical issues may arise that require modifications.

The specialist noted that previously announced plans to produce dozens of aircraft per year look ambitious. According to his forecast, by 2030, the production of about 10 MC-21s annually may be more realistic.

The main task remains not only the production of the aircraft themselves, but also the creation of a sustainable production system - from components and maintenance to the preparation of infrastructure for the operation of the new airliner.

At the same time, the need for MC-21 will persist due to the gradual reduction of the fleet of foreign aircraft in Russian airlines. The faster production can be increased, the less the industry's dependence on foreign technology will be.

Earlier, "Perviy Tekhnicheskiy" reported that on August 3, the first production passenger aircraft MC-21-310 made its first flight. The airliner, built using production technologies and equipped with domestic systems, took off from the Irkutsk Aviation Plant airfield and spent 83 minutes in the air.