IRKUTSK. June 6 (Interfax) - Russia powered by Irkut Corporation technology is ready to develop a passenger plane in a joint project with China, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said at a sitting of cochairmen of the Russian-Chinese commission preparing meetings of government chairmen in Irkutsk on Monday.
"We have visited the Irkutsk aircraft plant [a unit of Irkut Corporation] and seen that the assembly of Russia's MS-21 plane, aka Yakovlev Yak-242, has headed into the homestretch. On the basis of these technologies, Russia is ready to be a part of the joint project developing a ... passenger plane," Dmitry Rogozin said.
Earlier reports said the Irkutsk aircraft plant was assembling the MS-21 jetliner to replace Soviet-era Tupolev Tu-154 and Tu-134. The maiden flight of the MS-21 is planned for 2016.