Russia and China cooperate on a future widebody airliner

Russia and China have agreed to jointly develop a new widebody commercial airliner. A memorandum to that effect between Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) was signed in May, during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Shanghai. “The document is the results of two years of joint work by Russian and Chinese specialists,” UAC head Mikhail Pogosyan commented at the time.

The new widebody airliner will target the Russian and Chinese markets and will also be offered to third countries. The Russian aircraft maker reports that the partners are now planning “to define how the aircraft’s major subsystems will be designed, identify the sales strategy and choose the most effective forms of participation for either side”.

In February this year, Pogosyan mentioned that the new aircraft was expected to enter the market in 2023-2025. UAC estimated back then that the global market for the future design would amount to 8,000 airliners through to 2033, including 1,000 in China alone. Since 2012, the joint teams of Russian and Chinese specialists have been running a feasibly study on all aspects of the program. UAC now reports that the conclusions will be presented to the two countries’ governments this summer.