Alexei Fyodorov, the CEO of the United Aircraft Building Corporation, said at the Farnborough-2008 air show in Britain that Russia may launch a joint venture with China to further develop a new passenger airliner, MS-21.
"We will come to a decision with Chinese manufacturers next year on the possibility of setting up a joint venture to design a new mid-range passenger aircraft, MS-21," he said.
The MS-21 plane is being developed by Russia’s major manufacturing companies ¡ª Ilyushin, Tupolev and Yakovlev ¡ª to replace the ageing Tu-154, which currently services some 80 per cent of Russia’s passenger and freight traffic, and also the Airbus A-320 and Boeing 737 aircraft.
The new passenger jet, due to enter service in 2012, is expected to be 10-15 per cent more effi ient than the equivalent Boeing or Airbus, the Russian group claims. Its target price will be just US$35 million, US$20 million below that of the similarly-sized Boeing 737-700.
The single-aisle MS-21 family of passenger aircraft is designed to seat between 150 and 220 passengers.