Russia Grants Certification for Domestically Equipped Tu-214, Paving Way for Mass Production
MOSCOW – The aviation authority of Russia has passed the certification of the first passenger plane to be wholly developed using locally produced parts which is a significant milestone to the development of an aircraft without Western technology in the country.
On Dec. 27, the Federal Air Transport Agency or Rosaviatsia granted a certificate of acceptance of significant design modifications to the Tupolev Tu-214. The twin engine narrow body is capable of ferrying up to 210 passengers on medium-haul flights.
Russian engineers substituted 17 sophisticated systems in the aircraft such as weather radar, collision-avoidance and ground-proximity warning systems. One of the previous suppliers of some of these components around the world was American manufacturer Honeywell.
It was equivalent to creating a whole new avionics suite said Industry and Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov. He added that the safety systems constructed within the country would be fitted on other Russian aircrafts that were in the pipeline of being developed.
In November 2024, flight testing of the modified Tu-214 commenced and further certification tests were initiated in February 2025. The state-owned manufacturer, United Aircraft Corp., verified that the new equipment was discovered to be in compliance with federal regulations by the regulator.
Its production is projected to be 20 aircraft in the year 2027. The Kazan assembly plant will have eight jets in 2026 and 12 in 2027.
The approval was hailed by Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin as the open door to the delivery of goods to Russian carriers, who are increasingly being pressed by the fact that their Boeing and Airbus fleets are aging and lack the access to spare parts.
In 2022, Russia said it planned to produce over 1,000 commercial airliners by the end of the decade, including 70 Tu-214s. The development has been very slow and the shortage of skilled workers has reduced the production speed of manufacturing plants.
The aging Tu-214 design is considered by officials as a solution in the meantime until other types like the MC-21 are developed in large quantities. The work on certification is underway on the same aircraft and SJ-100 regional jet and Il-114-300 turboprop.
The Tu-214 entered service in 1996 though production was limited and mostly used by the government. Moscow increased the pace of the rehabilitation of the program in response to the Western sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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