Russian carriers have returned ten of twelve mothballed Soviet- and Russian-built airliners to service in 2026-2027, as the country's domestic aircraft production program delivered just 13 of the 127 airframes promised between 2023 and 2025. State conglomerate Rostec disclosed the restoration plan to the daily Izvestia on Jan. 19, 2026.

The unsealed fleet comprises nine Tupolev Tu-204/214s, one Antonov An-148 and two Ilyushin Il-96 widebodies. Red Wings is among the carriers receiving the aircraft, some of which are up to 30 years old. Rossiya, the Aeroflot subsidiary, is separately expanding operations of refurbished Boeing 747-400s pulled from pandemic-era storage.

How big is the shortfall?

Rosaviatsia, the state aviation regulator, counted 1,088 aircraft in operation out of a total fleet of 1,135 as of October 2025. Foreign-built types account for 67% of that fleet — airframes Russia cannot legally service or replace parts for under Western sanctions imposed after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The restoration program is, in the assessment of experts cited by Izvestia, a direct response to that shortage. It buys capacity with existing metal rather than new production.

The scale of the gap is stark. Moscow's import-substitution plan, launched in 2022, targeted 127 new aircraft across the Superjet, Il-114 turboprop and Tu-214 programs for delivery between 2023 and 2025. Actual deliveries to the civil fleet: 12 Superjets and a single Tu-214.

That lone Tu-214 does not fly commercial passengers at all. Reuters reported last year that Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov uses it as a government transport.

What does this mean for capacity?

Pulling 30-year-old types out of storage carries real operational constraints. The Tu-204/214 family was built in small numbers even before sanctions; the Il-96 widebody has never operated in significant commercial volume. Parts supply for these types now depends entirely on domestic manufacturing chains that are already failing to meet new-build targets.

The math underscores the bind. Twelve restored aircraft — even if all reach service — barely offset the 114-airframe shortfall against the 2023-2025 production plan. Russian passenger traffic, which recovered strongly post-pandemic, is running against a fleet that cannot grow and can only shrink or age.

Rossiya's 747 refurbishments point to the same constraint from the other direction. The airline is keeping airborne quad-jets that most Western carriers retired years ago, because replacing them with sanctioned Western widebodies is not an option and no Russian equivalent exists at scale.

The pattern — storage recoveries, VIP-configured Tu-214s counted as production, aged types flying on — signals an industry managing decline rather than replacing capacity. Until the Superjet and Tu-214 lines hit their delivery schedules, restored 1990s-vintage aircraft will remain a visible part of Russian airline operations through 2027.