Since 2007, Russia has been committed to developing a new narrow-body concept designed to compete with the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 families. In the past 14 years, a number of jet aircraft have been built, four of which have passed the certification of the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency and the European EASA.

The aircraft is now getting closer and closer to the finish line, and it is expected that deliveries to Russian customers will begin in the next few years. As part of aircraft marketing, it flew to the Dubai Airshow last year, where Simple Flying had the opportunity to board the aircraft and look around.

Take a quick look, the MC-21 is similar to any other aircraft on the Dubai Airshow route. However, when you get closer, it starts to become more unique. For example, the nose of this plane looks sharper than expected on Airbus or Boeing.

In addition, the aircraft's engine looks slightly different. The reason is that this Dubai aircraft is equipped with a Russian-made PD-14 engine. The jet is also equipped with Pratt & Whitney PW1400G engines.

Read more: New engine technology in Russia: domestically produced engine for MC-21

There are four emergency exits on both sides of the aircraft, and two full-size doors on each end of the fuselage. Two pairs of smaller doors are located at the front and rear of the aircraft wing. After walking around the plane, it's time to step onto the red carpet and look inside.

The interior of the test MC-21 cabin is divided into three different parts. The cockpit is located at the front of the cabin, which is the case for almost all aircraft. The MC-21 cockpit is designed for two pilots, and it looks familiar to those who are accustomed to the cockpits usually found on narrow-body aircraft.

In front of each pilot is a row of glass cockpit displays that show the data that the pilot needs during the flight. Above this is the autopilot panel, and what separates the two pilots are further controls, such as the engine power lever and the flight management computer.

Except for a few controls placed in the cockpit only for aircraft certification purposes, everything is marked in English, which is the official language of aviation. The crew revealed that any bright orange on the plane was for testing purposes.

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Irkut gave flight control to Airbus instead of Boeing when designing the cockpit. Unlike the yoke between the pilot's legs, the aircraft is controlled by side sticks placed on the outside of each pilot.

The second different part of the cabin is the so-called test area. Here, there are a range of equipment from flight data recorders to sensors and aircraft monitoring stations. At this time, there is a handrail on each side of the jet, and the aisle separates the equipment on both sides.

The test equipment is mainly located on the right side of the front of the aircraft. At the same time, there is a series of yellow metal plates on the left side of the plane with poles (more on this later).

The real highlights of this section are not immediately visible. Our guide Sergey lifted a large flap on the floor. This exposed a hole through the floor to the front cargo door.

According to reports, if any serious problems occur during the flight test, all personnel on board can remove the parachute from the hole in the floor. When you look at the outside of the aircraft, you can see where the hatch in the cargo door will open.

Behind the flight test instrument are several engineer stations, one on each side of the aircraft. Here, the flight test engineer can monitor the aircraft parameters on the three screens at the right station and the two screens at the left station. Each engineer has a relatively comfortable seat, which looks like an integrated parachute.

So, back to the yellow section we mentioned earlier. Behind the two engineer stations, there is a pile of yellow plates like this. According to our guide, these yellow plates are used to place heavy objects to test the aircraft under different load configurations. This is similar to the large water tanks all over the cabin of a Boeing 777X.

Read more: Guided tour: Boeing 777-9 test aircraft interior

At the rear of the cabin, Ikrut hopes to show what the cabin looks like after entering commercial service, initially in Russia. There are two types of seats in the cabin. At the front are two rows of "business class" seats. This is a four-person side-by-side layout for 2-2 people, with wide armrests containing a tray table that separates each chair.

Behind this, Irkut installed some standard narrow-body seats in a 3-3 configuration. It is worth noting that the large windows allow plenty of natural light to enter the cabin. At the same time, there is a considerable overhead suitcase. Each seat is equipped with all the comforts you would expect on this jet aircraft, such as vents, overhead lights and call bells.

Another exciting feature is the width of the cabin. When providing catering services, there is enough space to pass standard-size catering carts. Gone are the days of passing the trolley on the way to the bathroom.

In addition to a few reasonable standard toilets, there is also a standard-sized kitchen at the rear of the engine. Interestingly, each exit has a permanently connected rope, hidden in a pocket above the door. If the slide fails during the test, this may help evacuate.

What do you think of the interior of the MC-21 test aircraft? Can you fly on it? Tell us what you think and why in the comments!

Content Manager-With a degree in aerospace technology, this certified pilot is a passionate expert in European aviation. Tom works closely with British Airways, Lufthansa and other airlines to provide commentary on hot issues for the media including the BBC. Headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany.