Russia grants type certificate to fully Russified Tu-214 airliner
December 30, 2025
Russia has awarded its Certificate of Approval for the Soviet-era Tu-214 medium-range airliner. Following the West’s imposition of sanctions on Russia in 2022, approximately 14% of the components had to be replaced with Russian components.
Russia awards Tu-214 its type certificate
On 27th December, Rosaviatsiya (Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency) awarded the Tupolev Tu-214 its Certificate of Approval for a Major Change to the Type Design. This comes after AGN reported in October that the first Russified Tu-214 was ready for delivery in late 2025 or early 2026.
Russia’s UAC reported, “The decision was made by Rosaviatsiya following a positive conclusion from the Aviation Register of Russia, confirming that the new equipment meets the stated requirements.”
The ceremony and presentation of the certificate took place at the S.P. Gorbunov Kazan Aviation Plant, a part of UAC. UAC is, in turn, under Russia’s Rostec giant.
During the ceremony, Anton Alikhanov, Minister of Industry and Trade, spoke of the aircraft’s airborne collision avoidance and ground proximity early warning system. He claimed, “Globally, these systems are produced by only one company, and we have managed to overcome its worldwide monopoly.”
Alikhanov then said these TCAS-equivalent collision avoidance systems can now be installed on other aircraft models.
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Planned production ramp-up of the Tu-214
At the event, Andrey Nikitin of the Minister of Transport, spoke of Russia’s plans to ramp up production of the Tu-214. He said the certification paves the way for serial production of the aircraft for Russia’s domestic airlines.
Nikitin noted there are plans to increase Tu-214 production to 20 aircraft per year by 2027. He said that he is confident the UAC “will continue to further improve the aircraft design to meet operator expectations, and that the plant will ensure the required production volumes.”
In 2022, Russia originally announced it would build 1,036 commercial aircraft of all types by 2030, of which 70 would be Tu-214s. Apart from seven Superjets assembled with pre-stocked components and possibly that Tu-214 business jet referenced earlier, none have been delivered.
It is unclear which airlines are interested in purchasing the now obsolete Tu-214. Russia’s flag carrier, Aeroflot, had planned to purchase 89 new Superjets and 40 Tu-214s in 2022. But those plans have changed with Aeroflot now saying it will only purchase the newer MC-21 airliner.
Progress being made to return Russian commercial aircraft to production
Russia is also working to develop fully Russified versions of the regional Sukhoi Superjet, the medium-haul Yakovlev MC-21, and the turboprop Ilyushin Il-114. Other aircraft being worked on include the widebody Il-90 and light aircraft like the LMS-901 Baikal.
Significant progress on developing import-substituted variants of these aircraft is being made. Russified variants of the MC-21, Superjet, and Il-114 are already flying.
While only around 14% of the Tu-214 components were imported before 2022, the share was around 60-80% for the MC-21 and Superjet.
Russia also needs cargo aircraft. In December 2025, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that over the last 3.5 years, its fleet of airworthy freighters operated by carriers has halved, and the air freight turnover flown by Russian aircraft has fallen fivefold.
Russia is hoping the return of the Tu-214 will help stem the overall decline of Russia’s aviation sector.
Dmitry Yadrov, Head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, said at the Tu-214 event, “The outcome [of the Tu-214’s certification] will be increased air mobility for our citizens.” He said it would improve connectivity between the country’s regions and the growth of the national economy.
