The cost of one MC-21 is currently estimated at approximately 9 billion rubles. This was announced on September 28 by Andrey Soynov, General Director of the Irkutsk Aviation Plant. Aviation blogger SkyExpert separately analyzed the expenses that could make up this sum and compared it with the prices of aircraft deliveries to Aeroflot.
In his calculation, SkyExpert takes into account the aviation plant's expenses, purchased components, R&D, certification, and program launch costs. The expert specifically notes state funding for MC-21 development. However, the fact of such funding does not automatically mean that R&D costs cannot be considered in the economic calculation of the aircraft's cost: the order of their accounting depends on the adopted methodology.
9 billion looks more or less realistic here.
Separately, the expert analyzed the difference between contract prices. According to his version, in one of the calculations, about 3.5 billion rubles could be attributed to already paid engines and other purchased components: approximately 2.5 billion rubles for engines and another 1 billion for other purchased components. For another contract, SkyExpert assumes additional plant costs of approximately 1.6 billion rubles.
As a result, about 5.1 billion rubles in SkyExpert's calculation relate to components and the enterprise's own costs. However, this amount is not an officially disclosed aircraft cost and does not include a full public calculation of all expenses and the manufacturer's margin.
However, this scheme is not an official cost calculation: SkyExpert himself calls the calculations his own estimate. There is no independent confirmation of his breakdown by individual expense items in open sources.
As previously reported, after mastering serial production of the MC-21, the Irkutsk Aviation Plant plans to switch to aircraft with a capacity of more than 211 passengers after mastering MC-21 production and delivering serial aircraft to airlines. In parallel, work has already begun on a shortened version of the MC-21-210 for 140–150 passengers: the first parts for the aircraft are being manufactured, and the first flight is scheduled for August 2028.