United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), a subsidiary of Russia’s State Corporation for Assistance to Development, Production and Export of Advanced Technology Industrial Product (Rostec), announced on December 27 local time that the Federal Air Transport Agency of the Russian Federation has issued a certificate of approval for major design modification for the Tu-214 aircraft. With this approval, the Tu-214 has become Russia’s first certified civil aircraft to achieve full import substitution.
At the certificate awarding ceremony, Denis Manturov, Russia’s Minister of Industry and Trade, stated that the aircraft is equipped with domestically-developed airborne collision avoidance system and ground proximity warning system, which have successfully broken the previous global monopoly dominated by a single foreign company. According to the plan, the annual output of the Tu-214 will be increased to 20 aircraft by the end of 2027. Back in February this year, Manturov noted that the first batch of Tu-214 aircraft is scheduled to be delivered and put into operation in 2025.
Vitaly Savelyev, Russia’s Minister of Transport, said the approval has paved the way for the serial mass production of the aircraft for domestic airlines.
According to the official announcement, the civil version of the Tu-214 completed its maiden flight in November 2024, followed by commissioning test flights. In February 2025, the aircraft launched a supplementary airworthiness certification test programme, which has now been fully completed.
