[4] The name Altair was chosen after a competition amongst Beriev and Irkut staff in 2002—2003, as a reference to the name of the alpha star in the Eagle constellation and because: "Al" is the first part of the name of the Beriev A-40 Albatross amphibious aircraft, whose layout was the development basis for the creation of the Be-200; "ta" stands for Taganrog; and "ir" stands for Irkutsk.

[5] Initiated in 1989 under the design leadership of Alexander Yavkin, to meet a perceived need for a civilian flying boat smaller than Beriev's military A-40, the Be-200 shares a similar layout to the A-40 but is about half the weight.

[8] Beriev was responsible for development, design and documentation; systems-, static-, flight- and fatigue-testing of prototypes; certification and support of the production models.

This aircraft was built as a Be-200ES, being fitted to the specifications of the launch customer, EMERCOM, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations.

[15] Irkut and EADS signed a memorandum of understanding in May 2002 to jointly carry out a market study and to define the conditions and costs of international certification and the logistics of setting up a worldwide after-sales service.

[18] In 2010, the decision was made to switch production to the Centre of competence for amphibian aircraft and flying boats in Taganrog.

An assembly line was set up using tooling and equipment received from Irkut's main manufacturing site in Irkutsk, Siberia.

[3][20] In April 2018, months after Ukraine banned deliveries of Progress D-436 aircraft engines to Russia as a consequence of the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation,[21] Safran and UEC Saturn agreed to re-engine the Be-200 with the PowerJet SaM146 from the Sukhoi Superjet.

[22][23] The hope was that the more-modern SaM146 engine, which passed international certification and complies with prospective ICAO requirements, would allow the aircraft to be more fully introduced to the European and American markets.

[24] In April 2019, Russia's ministry of industry and trade objected to the Be-200ChS-146 project because the new engines contained components from NATO countries.

[28][29][30] That engine, including its automatic control system (called FADEC in the west), will be assembled from domestically-sourced materials and components and thus avoids any issue with regard to international sanctions or embargoes.

The hull is of single step design with a high length-to-beam ratio, which contributes to stability and controllability in water.

The D-436TP is a specific "maritime" corrosion-resistant version of the D-436 three shaft turbofan engine, designed especially for the Be-200 amphibian, by Ivchenko Progress ZMKB and manufactured by Motor Sich in Ukraine.

The ARIA 200-M all-weather integrated avionics system, developed by Honeywell with the Moscow Research Institute of Aircraft Equipment, uses six 152 x 203 mm (6 x 8 in) LCDs to display information to the crew of two.

The aircraft can empty its water tanks over the site of a fire in 0.8 to 1.0 seconds when flying above the minimum drop speed of 220 km/h (140 mph; 120 kn)[4] The first documented operational use of the Be-200 was from 20 August – 30 September 2004 (2004-08-20 – 2004-09-30).

On 6 July 2006, the Russian crew of the Be-200 leased by Portugal were carrying out a water pick-up from the Aguieira dam near Santa Comba Dão, when on climbing away they clipped treetops and at least one of the Progress D-436TP engines suffered ingestion damage and had to be shut down.

[44] These operations prompted press reports that the Indonesian government had agreed to purchase two Be-200s, each with a projected price of US$40,000,000 (equivalent to $60,455,596 in 2023).

[50] In Serbia one Be-200 belonging to Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations is stationed in summer on Niš Constantine the Great Airport.

[51] A Be-200 was dispatched by Russia in January 2015 to assist in search and recovery operations following the loss of Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 in the Java Sea.

[citation needed] A Chinese entity called Leader Energy Aircraft Manufacturing Co. ordered two Be-200s, with an option for two more, at the Zhuhai Airshow in 2016.

[3] A firm called International Emergency Services ("IES"), housed at the Santa Maria Public Airport in California, US tried since at least 2009 to bring the Be-200 to the United States in its fire-fighting role.

[54][55] An organization called the USA Firefighting Air Corps ("USAFAC") said in September 2014 that it had signed a collaboration agreement with IES to develop a U.S.-assembled Be-200 in Colorado.

[60] According to some reports, SGAS had plans to wet- and dry-lease the water-bombers in partnership with IES, offering services in several countries, including the US, European nations, and Australia.

[68] In February 2023, the EMERCOM dispatched a Be-200 to extinguish a large fire at the Turkish Iskenderun port, which began after a powerful earthquake hit Turkey and Syria.

On August 14, it crashed near the city of Adana, killing all 8 personnel on board including 5 Russian servicemen and 3 Turkish citizens.

[72][73][better source needed] At minimum it is claimed that the left wing console damaged, and a fuel leak resulted.