The second flying prototype of the upgraded Tupolev Tu-204SM medium-haul airliner conducted its first flight from the factory airfield of the Aviastar-SP corporation in Ulyanovsk on 3 August 2011. The prototype was given number 64151. It spent 52 min. in flight, controlled by the crew made up of pilot Alexander Zhuravlyov (honoured test pilot of Russia), co-pilot Victor Minashkin (Tupolev chief pilot and honoured test pilot of Russia), flight engineer V. Salatov and programme test engineer N. Fanurin. The flight was a success, with all systems functioning well and the planeТs stability and controllability praised by the crew.

In mid-August, the aircraft was ferried to Zhukovsky, Moscow Region, and used as a static display in the MAKS 2011 air show. There, one could see the interior of the cabin and flightdeck of the upgraded airliner.

Aviastar having constructed the second flying prototype allows speeding up the Tu-204SM certification tests kicked off by the first flying prototype (No. 64150) in April. As is known, it first flew in Ulyanovsk on 29 December 2010 and was ferried to Tupolev's Zhukovsky Flight Test and Development Facility at Gromov LII's airfield. Aviastar is manufacturing the third Tu-204SM (No. 64152) now. The certification tests are to be wrapped up in 2012, when deliveries of the first production aircraft may be launched.

The Tu-204SM differs from the production Tu-204 and Tu-214 in improved flight and operating characteristics, with the operating experience of its predecessors taken into account during its development. The Tu-204SM's features include the advanced PS-90A2 engines from Aviadvigatel JSC in Perm, developed in cooperation with Pratt&Whitney and productionised by the Perm Engine Company, and an advanced avionics suite that has allowed a crew reduction down to two members. Close attention is paid during the Tu-204SM's development to the introduction of an after-sales maintenance system meeting international standards.

The aircraft with the 108-tonne maximum takeoff weight takes 215 passengers in the single-class layout out to 4,800 km or 166 in the two-class layout to a distance of 6,100 km. The design life of the Tu-204SM is 60,000 flying hours, 45,000 flights or 25 years in service.

At present, UAC and Tupolev are in talks with potential launch customers for the Tu-204SM, particularly, VIM-Avia and some other Russian carriers. In addition, Tupolev late in September reported the signature of the memorandum of understanding with Syrian carrier Syrianair on delivery of three Tu-204SM's starting from 2013 and then setting up a maintenance centre for aircraft of the type on the premises of Syrianair.