A new wide-body long-haul aircraft may be developed by Russia and China on the basis of MS-21 airliner by means of scaling PD-14 engine, Prime reports with reference to the Deputy Chairman of Russian Government Dmitry Rogozin.

“A project for development of the wide-body long-haul aircraft may be considered as an extension of MS-21 Family by means of scaling the jet and its components,” Rogozin said following the results of meeting of the co-Chairmen of the Russian-Chinese Committee of China-Russia Prime Ministers' Regular Meeting. Vice Premier of the State Council of PRC, Wang Yang, is the Chinese co-Chairman of the Committee.

At that Russian vice-premier noted that there is a problem related to an engine for the wide-body aircraft.

“We have a problem, because engines of the required class are not manufactured in Russia. But I think, that by the time, when the project is implemented, we will have the required engine derived from PD-14, which is being tested in Perm,” Rogozin said.

He added that the parties are discussing the date of the visit of the Vice Premier Wang Yang to Irkutsk, where “production practices of Irkutsk Aviation Plant” will be demonstrated and all the additional consultations will be held.

According to a representative of the United Engine Corporation (UEC) “work in the area of marketing positioning, aircraft concept design and terms of cooperation is underway”.

MS-21 airliner developed by Irkut Corporation will be operated in Russia and other countries. MS-21 Family aircraft seating from 130 to 211 passengers are going to enter the most popular market segment, which is at present occupied by foreign analogues. Governor of Irkutsk Region, Sergey Eroschenko said earlier that the mass production of this airliner would be started in 2017.