Russia’s United Engines reveals the weight of the Sino-Russian CR929

A UEC presentation reveals that CR929 will have MTOW of 245 tonnes (UEC)

CRAIC CR929, the advanced wide-body aircraft which is being developed jointly by China and Russia, will have a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 245 tonnes, according to a presentation by Russia’s United Engine Corporation (UEC), developer of the programme’s PD-35 engine, a figure confirmed by Russian Aviation Insider’s sources in the industry.

United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), which is the Russian partner in the CRAIC joint venture with China’s COMAC, has previously only announced the type’s seating capacity and flight range: the base variant CR929-600, in a three-class configuration, will fly 280 passengers across 12,000 km.

The maiden flight of the new aircraft is scheduled for 2023. It will compete against Airbus and Boeing wide-body competitors. The re-engined A330-900 seats between 260 and 300 passengers in a three-class cabin configuration with a MTOW of 251 tonnes and its maximum range is 13,400 km. Similarly, the Boeing 787-9, in a two-class seating configuration, can take 296 passengers some 13,950 km.

The CR929 programme is currently at the conceptual design and line-up of first-tier suppliers stage. General Electric and Rolls Royce have both submitted their proposals for engine options, along with UEC.

UEC-Aviadvigatel’s managing director Alexander Inozemtsev has confirmed his company’s participation in the tender with the PD-35, an engine which produces 35 tonnes of thrust, and which is expected to receive its type certificate by 2027, at the same time as the aircraft. Its more powerful sibling, dubbed the PD-38, is proposed for a stretched version of the joint venture aircraft.

In turn, the PD-35 may be selected for the Ilyushin IL-96-400 twin-engine wide-body, Inozemtsev revealed, adding that, by order of the office of the Russian president, the manufacturer is already working on this programme. It is planned that the Ilyushin will be developed by 2025, he said.