The Kazan Aviation Plant (KAPO), located about 700 km east of Moscow, is expected to begin deliveries of the first Tupolev Tu-214s in 2024, a company representative told Interfax.
The Tu-214 is a narrow-body twin-engine aircraft derived from the Tu-204, whose biggest difference is the number of doors and emergency exits.
While the Tu-214 is made in Kazan, its “brother” was produced in Ulyanovsk and Aviastar.
The aircraft was developed during the last years of the Soviet Union and first flew in 1990. The first Tu-214 only took to the skies in 1996, but both had a very restricted production of around 100 units.
Faced with economic sanctions from the West following the military invasion of Ukraine, Russia has resumed production of old aircraft, but which have local components such as the Tu-214 and the Il-96.
Furthermore, programs such as the MC-21 and SuperJet jets require the replacement of Western suppliers with similar Russian ones.
The Tu-214 will have the task of replacing Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 models and for this the Russian government has initially ordered 70 aircraft.
The goal is to complete the assembly of three jets in 2023, seven in 2024 and from 2025 ten aircraft per year.
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“Agreements of intent and firm contracts have been concluded with several future operators. Delivery dates, according to the contracts, start in 2024,” a KAPO spokesperson told local media.
Future operators of the Tu-214 include Aeroflot, Red Wings and UVT Aero, but there are no details on agreements.
