The Tu-214 passenger aircraft is one of three Russian types that, in the coming decade, are intended to form the backbone of Russia’s civil aviation fleet; the others being the MC-21-310 and the SJ-100.
According to the comprehensive aviation industry development programme, in 2024 the Kazan Aviation Plant was scheduled to deliver one Tu-214 aircraft to operators. However, no new aircraft of this type entered commercial service. Four aircraft are projected to be built in 2025, seven in 2026, 17 in 2027, and from 2028 onwards, the plant is expected to reach a production rate of 28 Tu-214 aircraft annually.
To facilitate these production volumes, the Kazan Aviation Plant is undergoing expansion and modernisation of its manufacturing capabilities. A new final assembly hall has already been built, which allows for the assembly of up to 10 Tu-214 aircraft per year. Construction of a new sub-assembly hall is underway, where fuselage panels and wing structures are planned to be manufactured. This hall is scheduled for commissioning by the end of 2025.
In addition to expanding assembly capacity, the plant is implementing measures to upgrade its manufacturing technology. New equipment has been procured, including computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools, welding robots, and measurement and control systems. Personnel have undergone retraining to work with the new technologies.
Key Developments in 2024 for Scaling Up Tu-214 Production and Certification of Indigenous Systems
January
At the end of December 2023, Red Wings airline received a Tu-214 aircraft (RA-64518) on lease, configured with a 194-seat single-class cabin. In the first week of 2024, the carrier launched five new routes. The first of these was the Samara-Makhachkala flight, WZ-1331/1332, on 1 January. Flights on the routes Ufa – Novokuznetsk, Tyumen – Makhachkala, Chelyabinsk – Nizhnevartovsk, and Nizhnekamsk – Novy Urengoy commenced between 2 and 6 January. From February, Red Wings deployed the Tu-214 on flights to Baku, Tbilisi, and Tel Aviv.
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The first five Tu-214s are due to be delivered to Aeroflot between December 2024 and January 2025, according to the preferential leasing investment project signed by the cabinet in 2023.
The initial 11 Tu-214 aircraft for Aeroflot will feature a two-class cabin configuration with a maximum capacity of 175 seats: 12 business class and 163 economy class. The passenger cabin layout indicates that the Tu-214 will have four toilets: one at the front and rear, and two in the centre of the cabin. Seat pitch will be 78 cm.
February
On the evening of 2 February 2024, Sochi Airport received the first commercial flight of a Tu-214 aircraft following a lengthy period of non-operation of this aircraft type by Russian airlines. The load factor for Red Wings flight RA-64518 was over 90 percent, with a total of 194 passenger seats. The flight time from Zhukovsky to Adler was just over three hours.
Red Wings’ fleet is primarily composed of Superjets with a cabin configuration of 98–100 seats, and the introduction of the Tu-214 on the airline’s routes allows for a near doubling of capacity where the SSJ100 was previously deployed. The fleet expansion through the addition of Tu-204/214 aircraft will enable the airline to transport more passengers over longer distances, eliminating problems associated with leasing and foreign currency payments.
Tupolev aims to create the first fully domestic civil aircraft in modern Russia, the Tu-214
March
Red Wings’ fleet of Russian-manufactured aircraft was expanded with the addition of a Tu-204-100B passenger aircraft with registration number RA-64043. The aircraft was leased from Ilyushin Finance Co. On 20 March, the airliner took off from the runway at Ulyanovsk-Vostochny airfield and, after performing several circuits, completed a technical ferry flight to Domodedovo Airport. On 24 March, Tu-204-100B RA-64043 performed its first commercial flight from Domodedovo to Batumi and back to Moscow.
With a full commercial load, the airliner is capable of transporting passengers up to a distance of 3,600 km. The aircraft was previously operated by Red Wings from 2008–2018.
April
Omsk engineering company Polykon has designed and manufactured an assembly machine for the production of aircraft tyres for the Tu-214. Its capacity is at least four units per hour. The machine has been tested and has already been dispatched to the client. It features a modern design and optimised structure. The machine is intended for the assembly of aircraft tyres for the Tu-214 at the second stage of production, and also allows for the assembly of tyres of other sizes using additional units.
May
First Deputy Director General of UAC and Managing Director of JSC Tupolev, Konstantin Timofeev, presented the “Academy 033” aviation training centre to the Head of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov. The centre will be used for training flight crew members for the Tu-214. The centre is located in the village of Karaishevo, 22 km from Kazan. The training facility is equipped with the necessary technical training equipment, a hangar for installing simulators, and a hotel complex.
“The training programme for flight engineers on the Tu-214 aircraft, developed in collaboration with Red Wings airline, is currently undergoing approval by the Federal Air Transport Agency. Training at ‘Academy 033’ is provided for 39 aviation personnel training programmes,” stated a UAC release.
Transaero aircraft will be used for testing of the Russian Tu-214 avionics
June
The technical re-equipping of the Kazan Aviation Plant’s pre-production preparation, mechanical assembly, and flight test departments has been completed. The completion of the work will ensure an increase in the production of the medium-haul Tu-214 passenger aircraft. Compliance certificates and commissioning permits have been obtained for nine facilities, including the sub-assembly and final assembly halls. The readiness of the heat treatment and coating production facility is currently at 86 percent.
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The Tu-214 aircraft RA-64509 arrived in Belarus on 19 June, where it will be repainted in the corporate livery of the United Aircraft Corporation. The former Transaero aircraft still partially retains the livery of the bankrupt carrier, and will receive its new livery at Minsk Civil Aviation Plant No. 407. The aircraft will be used for the certification of indigenous equipment.
July
More than 200 units of assembly tooling are used in the production of the Tu-214. To realise the Russian government’s plans for the production of Tu-214 aircraft, the Kazan Aviation Plant is modernising production, additional funds are being allocated, new workshops are being built, the machine tool fleet is being modernised, and technical re-equipping of workshops is underway.
“We are currently working on the design and manufacture of fundamentally new semi-automatic and automatic aviation jigs. This will automate the process of joining units and components, and also shorten the aircraft assembly cycle,” said Konstantin Timofeev, Managing Director of JSC Tupolev, in his Telegram channel. He added that the plant plans to start using an automatic line for joining fuselage elements and assembling the detachable part of the wing in 2025.
August
One of the key areas of modernisation of the Tu-214 is weight reduction. Konstantin Timofeev, Managing Director of JSC Tupolev, explained how this will be achieved.
“A number of changes are planned to achieve this goal. These include updating the avionics, reducing the flight engineer’s position, reducing the redundancy of the flight control system, improving the quality of rivets, changing structural elements of the frame, and using composite materials,” noted Mr. Timofeev.
According to him, the avionics suite and the aircraft control system will be updated to reduce the weight of the Tu-214. Improved ergonomics, information content, and reliability of the new systems will make it possible to reduce redundant navigation systems. One of the most significant changes will be in the cockpit. The functions of the flight engineer will be taken over by an automated system for managing overall aircraft equipment. The transition to a two-pilot cockpit will reduce the weight of the aircraft by 200 kg.
September
At the Kazan Aviation Plant, work has begun to prepare the site for the installation of a high-tech machining centre for the manufacture of long aircraft parts. The foundation for the new machine tool, with an area of 371 sq. metres, has been poured. The new machine tool will enable the manufacture of components for passenger and military aircraft from aluminium alloys. The Russian-made gantry-type 5-axis milling machining centre with a vacuum table will enable the manufacture of aluminium alloy components with a maximum size of approximately 24 metres. Delivery of the equipment to the plant is scheduled for the beginning of 2025.
October
Tupolev has announced the launch of an Innovative Design Centre (IDC) for the modernisation of the Tu-214. The IDC is being created to address specific tasks related to the modernisation of the Tu-214, which include the digitisation of documentation, weight reduction of the airframe, the transition to new polymer composite materials, the modernisation of aircraft systems, and the interior. In particular, reducing the weight of the airframe will require updating the avionics and reducing the flight engineer’s position, i.e. a transition to a two-pilot crew.
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Kolomna Machine Tool Plant, part of the STAN holding, has launched serial production of the SK6P200 portal CNC machining centres. The equipment is designed for machining parts used in the production of modern civil aircraft.
On 21 October, during First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov’s visit to the Kazan Aviation Plant, the SK6P200 machine tool was demonstrated to the government delegation. Konstantin Timofeev (who was dismissed from his post on 25 November), Managing Director of JSC Tupolev, told the Deputy Prime Minister about plans to complete the modernisation of the Kazan Aviation Plant by the end of 2026, within which it is planned to increase the production of Tu-214 aircraft to 20 aircraft per year. To date, nine out of 24 facilities have been commissioned, while the remainder are at varying stages of completion.
November
The Tu-214LL aircraft, following the replacement of imported components with Russian equivalents, made its first flight at the airfield of the Kazan Aviation Plant named after S.P. Gorbunov. The flight was carried out with the landing gear retracted and lasted for 1 hour 10 minutes. The flight plan included the necessary checks of the indigenous systems and equipment. After landing, the Tupolev crew reported that the flight plan had been successfully completed in full.
The replacement of imported components affected 15 main and around 30 secondary systems of the aircraft. Among the replaced components were computing devices, ground proximity warning systems, airborne collision avoidance systems, and airborne radar systems. During the modernisation, the lighting and electrical equipment, the hydraulic system, and the integrated control system were also improved.
December
On 27 December 2024, the first flight of another newly built Tu-214 aircraft took place at the airfield of the Kazan Aviation Plant named after S.P. Gorbunov. The aircraft was laid down at the aircraft factory’s slipways in the spring of 2023. It is not known exactly which airline will own this aircraft; YUVT Aero, Aeroflot and Red Wings have been named in open sources. The aircraft could also be transferred to the ‘Russia’ Special Flight Detachment, where it would operate flights in the interests of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade.
According to data from the FlightRadar24 service, the aircraft was flying without open identification data, however, the 24-bit ICAO code 14FC17 clearly indicates an aircraft with manufacturer’s serial number 035 (s/n 535) and tail number 64535. Following completion of the transfer procedures, the aircraft will receive state registration RA-64535.
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The Cosmonaut Training Centre of Roscosmos State Corporation received a Tu-204-100B aircraft with registration number RA-64053, which became the third member of this family in the Roscosmos aviation fleet. The aircraft will be used to transport personnel and representatives of State Commissions involved in Russian space programmes.
Two Tu-204 aircraft are already in operation in the Roscosmos fleet. One of them, a Tu-204-300 with registration number RA-64045, was commissioned into the state corporation’s fleet in March 2019. It is used to transport cosmonauts, specialists and equipment to the Baikonur and Vostochny cosmodromes. The second Tu-204-300, RA-64044, was received in August 2019 and is also involved in supporting space technology flights.
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In June, Rostec’s press office reported that the Kazan Aviation Plant had two Tu-214 aircraft in its programme for 2024 – a new build and one with the restoration of airworthiness. Thus, UAC and the Kazan Aviation Plant fulfilled their obligations for the Tu-204/214 type. In March, Red Wings received a Tu-204-100B (RA-64043), and in December the newly built Tu-214 (RA-64535) took to the skies.
Roscosmos airfleet has been expanded with a Tu-204-100V aircraft
2025
YUVT Aero airline expects to receive its first two Tu-214 aircraft in October 2025. By this time, the carrier will develop a route network for these aircraft. However, plans may be changed depending on whether the Kazan Aviation Plant will be able to ensure the production of four aircraft this year, with the flagship carrier, Aeroflot, also in the queue for Tu-214s.
At the end of December 2024, it became known that the plans for the production of engines for the Tu-214, MC-21 and SSJ-100 aircraft in 2025-2026 have been revised from 192 to 128 units. Only 24 engines are planned to be produced in 2025 instead of 66, and 104 instead of 126 in 2026. The reason given was the complexity of the component indigenisation process.
Flight trials will continue with the experimental Tu-214 (RA-64509) under a programme for the certification of domestic avionics, which will replace the imported equipment on the Tu-214.
The commissioning of a number of large facilities at the Kazan Aviation Plant, which should ensure the scaling of the Tu-214 aircraft production, is planned for 2025. The comprehensive programme envisages the production of four aircraft, while two year ago Sergei Chemezov, head of Rostec, spoke of ten Tu-214 aircraft in 2025.
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