MC-21, Il-114, Baikal: Russian aircraft will cost up to 80% more than expected as sanctions force redesigns
July 6, 2025
Russia’s domestically made commercial aircraft are proving to be much more expensive than planned. Models have jumped in price by as much as 80% as the cost of developing Russian systems begins to bite.
Russia has been pushing for homegrown aviation solutions since Western sanctions locked the country out of parts, maintenance and aircraft from Airbus and Boeing. Prior to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, around 95% of Russia’s commercial fleet was supplied by Western companies.
In response to the sanctions, Russia launched an ambitious ‘import substitution’ strategy, aiming to replace all non-domestic parts and products with Russian-made alternatives. The country wants to achieve near-complete aviation self-sufficiency by 2030.
However, the transition has not been easy. Supply chain disruptions, design complexity and low production volumes have seen Russian aircraft soar in price, and in some cases coming close to the costs usually associated with proven models from Airbus and Boeing.
Which Russian aircraft have risen in price?
Russia’s flagship narrowbody aircraft, the MC-21, received its type certification in December 2021, but that was with Pratt & Whitney powerplants. The fully Russian MC-21-310 with domestic PD-14 engines is still undergoing certification testing.
UAC had previously touted the MC-21 at a unit cost of 4.3 to 4.6 billion rubles (approximately $55 – $58 million). Now, it’s priced at 7.6 billion rubles ($96 million), an increase of almost 70%.
Complementing the narrowbody jet, the Ilyushin Il-114 is undergoing certification testing to become Russia’s homegrown regional turboprop. It’s already completed more than 110 certification flights, and Rostec says type certification should be issued by the end of the year.
Originally priced at 1.44 billion rubles (approximately $18 million) the aircraft is now priced at 2.6 billion rubles ($33 million), an increase of almost 80%. The meeting heard that some early production examples could cost as much as 4 billion rubles a piece ($45 million).
Finally, the LMS-901 Baikal, intended to occupy the space of a Cessna Caravan or similar, has seen its cost rise by around 80% from original estimates. In 2019, the single engine aircraft was estimated at 120 million rubles per unit ($1.6 million), but now it’s anticipated to cost over 315 million rubles ($4 million).
The price rise was noted in a recent meeting between Russia’s Ministry of Transport and aerospace manufacturers, airlines and aviation regulators. Russian outlet Izvestia saw and reported on the minutes of the meeting.
No mention was made of other Russia-made aircraft, such as the Sukhoi Superjet (SSJ) New, a Russified version of the SSJ-100, or the restarted production of the Il-96. However, all Russian aircraft programmes are likely to be seeing cost increases which could be reflected in a future update.
Why are Russian aircraft costing so much more?
The surge in prices reflects a perfect storm of sanctions-driven redesigns, disrupted supply chains, and domestic inflation.
Redesigning critical systems like engines, avionics, and landing gear has required major investment to replace previously imported Western components.
All three of the aircraft were already well into development, with some part-way through certification tests or – in the case of the MC-21 – already certified when sanctions hit. This meant developers had to start over with new, domestic components, throwing schedules into disarray and adding to development costs.
High inflation and supply chain disruption within Russia have driven up material and labour costs, while manufacturers have been forced to set up new supply lines for previously imported parts, adding inefficiencies and overheads.
With any new aircraft, low levels of production tend to push up the per unit cost. These Russian aircraft have limited potential to drive costs back down through mass production like Airbus or Boeing would, as they are unlikely to see much export potential.
Essentially, the Russian domestic aerospace industry is absorbing the full costs of trying to go it alone, shaking off the shackles of Western products and parts.
Russian commercial aircraft costs projected to stabilise and decrease
While bringing a new aircraft to market is an expensive business, not to mention the R&D costs associated with replacing things like engines and avionics, those costs become less onerous as more aircraft are produced.
Russia projects that the unit cost for all three aircraft types will eventually stabilise and decrease as production scales up and supply chains mature. However, the outlook is not even across all three platforms.
The MC-21 is officially projected to decrease in cost after 2028, when serial production ramps up and import substituted components reach mass production.
However, this is very much dependent on a significant ramp up of supply on things like the PD-14 engine, currency in very limited production.
For the MC-21-300, keeping its costs lower than the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX is crucial. But driving down per unit costs is only achievable with the economies of scale. Until production hits 70 to 100 aircraft a year, which realistically could be 2030 or later, the price will likely remain high.
The official line on the Il-114 is that the price will stabilise at around 2.6 billion rubles ($33 million) once its certified and in serial production. This is almost entirely dependent on the Klimov TV7-117 engines going into reliable, affordable production, which is currently still a work in progress.
The LMS-901 Baikal is a slightly different situation. Unlike the MC-21 and Il-114, officials are openly warning that costs will continue to climb unless major changes are made to the programme.
The State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK) projects 4% price rises each year until 2032, reaching 587 million rubles ($7 million) a unit.
Even at the $4 million level, the Baikal would be almost twice the cost of a Cessna Caravan. At $7 million, it would be perhaps the most expensive single-engine utility class aircraft in the world, more expensive even than the Pilatus PC-12 NGX.
