Due to sanctions and embargoes on importing aircraft and parts, Russia is forced to turn to its aviation industry. The consortium UAC (United Aircraft Corporation), an organization that unites former separate manufacturers Ilyushin, Irkut, Mikoyan, Sukhoi, Tupolev, and Yakovlev, stepped in to help Russian carriers. The latest news is that Russian S7 Airlines is ordering 100 Tupolev Tu-214s, the Aerotime portal reports.
According to Aerotime’s sources, the contract was signed by the general director of UAC, Yuri Slyusar, and the owner of the S7 group, Vladislav Filev. The meeting took pace on 18 September 2024, in the city of Kazan, located in the Republic of Tatarstan, where UAC produces the u-214, an aircraft that is a modernized version of the Soviet Tu-204.
The Tu-214 was designed to compete with the Boeing 757. It was produced from 1992 to 2016, and according to unofficial information, 85 aircraft were produced during that period. The data shows that approximately 40 aircraft are no longer in regular service, and the largest operator in passenger traffic is the Russian Red Wings, which initially took the Tu-214 out of service to replace them with the Airbus A320. Still, they were returned to service in early 2024. Production is back launched in 2022 after the introduction of an embargo to Russia on the import of foreign aircraft and parts necessary to maintain the current fleet, and by 2028 UAC plans to produce 70 examples of the Tu-214.
Aeroflot ordered 40 Tu-214s earlier this year with delivery due in 2030. In addition, Aeroflot still has an order for 20 MC-21s and 89 Superjet 100s, also Russian-made aircraft. Russia plans to have 1,000 domestically produced aircraft in regular traffic by 2030, and after all, models go through the process of “Russification”, i.e. replacement of all Western parts with Russian ones.
The only Tu-214 (and older Tu-204) operators outside of Russia are Cuba’s Cubana and North Korea’s Air Koryo.
