The first mass-production model of Russia's MC-21-310 airliner completed its maiden flight on August 3, the Moscow Times reported, days after President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to the aircraft's Siberian assembly plant.

The jet flew for one hour and 23 minutes after taking off from an airstrip at the Irkutsk Aviation Plant, reaching speeds of 600 km/h and altitudes of 6,000 metres, manufacturer United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) said. “The first assembly line produced aircraft performed well, and the flight plan was completed in full,” test pilot Roman Taskayev said afterwards.

The flight is a milestone in a programme Moscow has staked its aviation sovereignty on: a narrowbody jet built entirely from Russian-made parts, intended to replace the Western-built Airbus and Boeing aircraft that make up most of Aeroflot's fleet and that Russian carriers can no longer easily service or renew under sanctions. Putin toured the Irkutsk plant on July 24, stepping into the cockpit of the latest MC-21-310, and UAC chief executive Vadim Badekha said the government approved additional production orders following that visit, on top of an initial batch of 18 airliners already under assembly at Irkutsk.

First launched in 2009, the MC-21 programme was originally slated for mass production in 2016, but sanctions and delays in sourcing replacement parts repeatedly pushed back delivery timelines. State defence conglomerate Rostec, which oversees UAC, said it aims to complete certification of the MC-21 by late 2026, with commercial flights to begin months later.

“Running production alongside testing will allow us to minimise the gap between receiving certification and beginning deliveries,” said Vitaly Naryshkin, the jet's chief designer.