Russia’s Irkut yesterday added a fourth example of its MC-21-300 to the narrowbody airliner program’s flight test fleet. The aircraft, which incorporates design changes based on lessons learned from flight testing of the first three prototype aircraft, flew for one hour and 40 minutes to an altitude of just under 10,000 feet and at speeds of up to around 270 knots.

In November, Irkut parent company United Aircraft announced that the factory-standard MC-21-300 will be priced at $97.9 million—around 20 percent less than Western-made equivalents. Deliveries of the 175 aircraft on order so far are due to begin in late 2020, once Russian certification is achieved, with approval by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency to follow in 2021. The aircraft will offer cabin configurations ranging between 163 and 180 seats.

The aircraft is powered by either the Pratt & Whitney PW1400G engine or the Russian-made PD-14, which is offered for airlines concerned about the impact of economic sanctions. The first PD-14-powered version is due to make a first flight in 2020 and deliveries of this version are set to start in 2022.