The Irkutsk Aviation Plant has separated the serial production of aircraft from the overhaul of aviation equipment. For this purpose, two specialized sites have been prepared: a hangar for removing old paint and applying primer, and a separate building for disassembling, cleaning, and defecting aircraft. The decision should reduce downtime and help the plant accelerate work in both directions simultaneously.
The new sections change not so much the repair technology as the organization of the entire process. After arriving for overhaul, the aircraft will be able to sequentially undergo the necessary operations in separate zones, without creating unnecessary load on the sections involved in serial assembly. The plant expects to build repairs on a flow basis and reduce time losses when moving machines between operations.
For the Irkutsk Aviation Plant, this is especially important against the backdrop of the expanding MS-21 program. In October 2026, Rostec announced the production of the first 18 serial liners, which are planned to be delivered to Aeroflot in 2027–2028. In addition, the enterprise is preparing to start production of components for another 90 aircraft. The separation of serial production and repair flows should help avoid mixing different tasks in one production process.
For the MS-21 program, the organization of serial production is particularly important: the plant must simultaneously increase the output of new liners and provide maintenance for aviation equipment. The allocation of separate sites for overhaul will allow building a consistent chain of operations, reducing downtime, and more efficiently using production areas. This is another element of the Irkutsk Aviation Plant's restructuring to meet the growing demands of civil aircraft manufacturing.