It does not come as a surprise, but the Russian Ministry of Commerce wants to make eleven aircraft that have been parked for a long time airworthy again. There are eight Tupolev Tu-204/214, two Ilyushin Il-96 and one Antonov An-124.

According to the Interfax agency, 15,4 billion rubles (around 269.145.497,54 euros) are to be spent to get these eleven aircraft back into the air for the time being. It is also planned that the type certificates should be changed. It is not excluded that other older machines, some of which date back to Soviet times, will be made fit again.

The background is that the supply of spare parts for western models is becoming increasingly difficult. Although a signal has been received from China that replica parts could be obtained, this should not be sufficient. Ramping up the manufacture of Russian machines will take some time. It is currently assumed that the project will take around three to five years.

The state wants to bring the necessary "small change" that is required into the Rostec subsidiary United Aircraft Corporation. By "redistributing" funds from the federal budget, the aim is to be able to provide the money in the short term. Due to the sanctions, around ten Tu-214 are to be manufactured annually. The resumption of production of the Il-96 is at least not ruled out.