At the Kazan Aviation Plant (KAZ) named after S.P. Gorbunov, the construction of new buildings for the production of the Tu-214 aircraft has begun. As noted on the website of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), "in connection with the growth of the production program, a machining center for the production of long parts and a new body for the aggregate and final assembly of Tu-214 aircraft will be built at the plant."

The symbolic ceremony of laying the first piles was attended by the head of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, the general director of the UAC Yuri Slyusar, the managing director of Tupolev JSC Vadim Korolev and the first deputy managing director of KAZ Nikolay Savitskikh.

"The development of the Kazan Aircraft Plant is one of the largest investment projects to modernize production in the industry. Today, the construction of new buildings of the plant was launched. The launch of new facilities will make it possible to fulfill obligations under the program for the production and supply of Tu-214 aircraft as part of a comprehensive program for the development of the aviation industry," the UAC press service quoted Slyusar as saying.

  • Tu-214 cockpit
  • © Public domain

In turn, Rustam Minnikhanov stressed that "Kazan Aviation Plant is at a new stage of its development."

"Thanks to the great support of the country's leadership, the company is conducting a large-scale program of modernization and technical re-equipment. Today, we have launched the construction of two new production facilities on the territory of the plant. At the same time, we are doing a lot of work to purchase new equipment and train highly qualified personnel. All this will allow us to fulfill the state task of increasing the production of medium-haul Tu-214 passenger aircraft qualitatively and on time," the head of the republic said.

Vadim Korolev added that the pace of production at KAZ will be increased "due to the commissioning of new high-performance equipment and the modernization of existing facilities, as well as an additional set of key production workers."

Return of the Tu-204 family

Recall that the Tu-214 is a modification of the Tu-204 medium-haul passenger liner. The creation of this aircraft began in 1981. According to the plans, it was supposed to replace the legendary Tu-154, the most popular Soviet jet passenger aircraft.

In 1989, the first prototype of the Tu-204 took to the skies, and five years later the aircraft received an airworthiness certificate.

Subsequently, the developers created an improved version of the liner - Tu-204-200, which was decided to be renamed Tu-214. According to Rostec, the take-off weight of the updated airliner was 110.75 tons, the maximum commercial load was 25.2 tons, and the flight range, depending on the layout and configuration, reached 8500,<> km.

  • Tu-204
  • RIA Novosti
  • © Ilya Pitalev

The UAC website notes that the Tu-214 is equipped with powerful and fuel-efficient PS-90A engines. The aircraft also fully complies with international requirements for noise on the ground and emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere. According to the developers, the Tu-214 can take on board up to 210 passengers, who are provided with a high level of individual comfort.

However, according to analysts, due to the economic problems of the 1990s and the crisis that came after the collapse of the USSR in the aviation industry, the Tu-204 family of aircraft did not become massive.

"The creation of the aircraft coincided with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the economic downturn of the 1990s. Passenger traffic decreased, new planes were not needed - the stock of Soviet aircraft was so significant that it was enough for the following years," Roman Gusarov, editor-in-chief of the Avia.ru portal, explained in an interview with RT.

In turn, the editor-in-chief of the Vzlyot magazine, Andrey Fomin, drew attention to the fact that the fate of the Tu-214 was also influenced by the purchase of foreign aircraft by Russian airlines.

"Serial production of the Tu-204 began in the 1990s, which were difficult for our country. In addition, our companies began to purchase foreign Airbus and Boeing aircraft, first used, and then new," the analyst said in an interview with RT.

Until recently, the Tu-204 and Tu-214 were used mainly in government agencies: the Rossiya Special Flight Squadron, the Ministry of Defense and Kosmos Airlines (jointly owned by the Russian Defense Ministry and Roscosmos). In addition, within the framework of the Open Skies Treaty, Russia used a reconnaissance modification of the Tu-214ON aircraft to control the military activities of Western countries.

Until 2022, Russia had no plans to resume deliveries of the Tu-214 to passenger airlines, since the niche of medium-haul transportation should be occupied by the newest Russian airliner MC-21 in the future. However, after the introduction of sanctions against the Russian Federation by the West, which actually made it impossible to purchase new foreign airliners and slowed down work on the MC-21, the leadership of the Russian Federation decided to increase the production of the Tu-214 to cover the needs of airlines for new aircraft.

At the same time, the Tu-214 aircraft will be modified so that there are no foreign parts left in them. This was announced on July 10 by the head of the government of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin at the plenary session of the international industrial exhibition "Innoprom".

"By the end of next year, the Tu-214, one of the most reliable types of aircraft, will be fully modified. There will be no foreign materials and products left in its design," RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

According to Mishustin, the target volume of aircraft production in a few years, according to the forecast, should be 20 aircraft per year.

"No intermediate landings"

According to experts, in the Tu-214, which will be supplied to Russian airlines, the developers will replace a small number of imported parts.

"As officially reported, this aircraft is completely Russian, but a number of elements in it were foreign-made. As far as I understand, the replacement of these components is the main task for the near future," said Andrey Fomin.

  • Tu-214ON
  • RIA Novosti
  • © Maxim Blinov

At the same time, analysts note that one of the disadvantages of the Tu-214 is the outdated control scheme for a crew of three people: two pilots and a flight engineer. In the MC-21 and modern foreign aircraft, the position of flight engineer has been replaced by automation.

According to Andrey Fomin, the improvement of the Tu-214's onboard equipment for the transition to a two-member crew may become the next task for the modernization of the airliner. However, Roman Gusarov believes that such an update is not necessary.

"Upgrading onboard equipment to replace a flight engineer is not an easy task. This work, subsequent testing and certification can take several years and a lot of money. But in a few years, this will no longer be necessary, because by that time the more modern MS-21 will be produced in dozens. Therefore, the Tu-214 should be produced in its current form, but in small batches - as a backup option. Under this condition, the aircraft will find its niche in the market," Roman Gusarov said.

Otherwise, the Tu-214 meets all modern requirements, says Andrey Fomin.

"The Tu-214 is not a bad aircraft, although it was created back in the 1990s. Upgraded versions of Boeing and Airbus have advanced a bit thanks to the use of new generation engines, but the difference is not so significant. Perhaps there is an advantage among foreign classmates in terms of economy, but it is also not colossal," the analyst said.

Andrey Fomin added that the advantage of the Tu-214 in the market may be a long flight range.

"The Tu-214 has a high flight range and can be slightly ahead of Boeing and Airbus models in this indicator. In the old days, when Tu-214s were still operated by airlines, they flew from Moscow to the Far East without intermediate stops. Airbus and Boeing are not able to do this in a similar class," the expert concluded.