A wide-body aircraft developed by Russia and China will enter market in 9 or 10 years, ITAR-TASS reports with reference to the president of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), Mikhail Pogosyan.

“In the near term we are going to start the detailed design stage and assess the economic feasibility of the project. The program should enter market in 9 or 10 years,” Pogosyan said at Airshow China-2014.

According to him, flight testing of the aircraft seating 300 passengers and having a range of 12,000 km should be started in early 2020s.

According to Pogosyan, the initial stage of development is being started; the parties are looking for potential suppliers and define the scheme of cooperation.

“We have already defined major requirements for the jet,” the president of UAC stated.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Yuri Slusar, said the aircraft might enter market by 2025. “The jet is going to enter the market by 2025. If my memory serves me right its maiden flight is scheduled for 2021-2022,” he noted.

According to him, the implementation of this project has already been started. Both Moscow and Beijing support the project. “Next May we will start the detailed design stage of this project. We will showcase the results of this program,” Slusar promised. He expressed hope that the jet’s advantages in terms of aircraft performance and economics will be demonstrated at this stage.

“The project looks promising,” the Deputy Minister stated.

He also noted that the new liner should be in demand not only at Russian and Chinese markets. “It makes no sense to implement such project for just one country, even such a large one as China,” he explained.