MOSCOW, RUSSIA — State-owned Russian aircraft manufacturer United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) plans to produce 10 Tupolev Tu-214 airliners per year by 2025. Currently, around 2 - 3 Tu 214 planes are manufactured annually.

"In order to provide a safety net for the MC-21 medium-haul aircraft, we are boosting production of the well-known Tu-214 airliner manufactured by the Kazan Aviation Plant. We expect to reach a volume of 10 planes per year by 2025 and then gradually increase the production of the MC-21 aircraft," Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said.

Manturov noted that now 2-3 such airliners are produced per year for the use of the Russian government. Russian airline operators will start receiving Tu-214 and Il-96 airliners from 2024, Rostec CEO Sergey Chemezov said earlier. By 2030, more than 70 planes are scheduled for delivery, he said.

The need to increase production of the Tu-214 and Il-96 airliners arose as a result of having to tackle the West’s sanctions against Russia, which included the termination of Airbus and Boeing deliveries, and the refusal of European countries and the United States to maintain and supply spare parts for the fleet of Russian airlines.

Commercial flights with narrowbody Tu-214s began in May 2001 with, and the type was subsequently introduced at airlines including KrasAir and Transaero. The Tu-214 is essentially a higher gross weight variant of the Tu-204, being fitted with extra fuel tanks and structural adjustments to deal with the heavier gross weight.