On 28 May, 2017, the maiden flight of MC-21-300 commercial aircraft took place at the airfield of Irkutsk Aviation Plant, the affiliate of Irkut Corporation (a UAC member). The duration of the flight was 30 minutes at the altitude of 1000 meters, at the speed of 300 km/hour.

The flight plan included checking of in-flight stability and controllability, and also the controllability of the power plant. According to the program, during the flight a simulated landing approach was performed, followed by a flight over the runway, climbing and turning. This technique is typical for the maiden flight of new types of aircraft.

The aircraft was piloted by the crew commander Oleg Kononenko, test pilot, the Hero of Russia, and the copilot Roman Taskayev, test-pilot, The Hero of Russia.

Russian passenger jet MC-21 is planned to be certified by the end of 2021. Deliveries to the first airlines are planned in 2022.

Flights tests of MC-21 civil jet are underway since 2017. 

The MC-21 is the medium-range passenger jet. The base aircraft version with US engines PW1400 is known as MC-21-300. Aircraft customers are anticipated to select the engine for flight operation. In December 2020, MC-21-310 aircraft made the first flight with Russian PD-14 engines. Versions with the seating capacity from 132 to 165 seats and up to 250 seats are also expected to be produced in the future.