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- The main thing is the wings: in the Russian Federation, they are deconservating old aircraft to maintain passenger traffic
The main thing is the wings: in the Russian Federation, they are deconservating old aircraft to maintain passenger traffic
Airlines will deconservate old aircraft to maintain passenger traffic in 2026. Red Wings and other operators have received 10 restored passenger and cargo Tu-204-214, An-148 and IL-96, Rostec told Izvestia. Rossiya plans to launch another restored double-deck Boeing 747 on routes, in addition, another similar aircraft is in the process of reconstruction, sources familiar with the situation told Izvestia. This will make it possible to replenish the civil aviation fleet against the backdrop of an emerging reduction in traffic, experts say. About what the fleet of Russian companies currently consists of and what the condition of the aircraft is, see the Izvestia article.
How planes are restored
The program for the restoration of 12 airliners for the needs of civil aviation has been extended until 2027. As the Rostec state Corporation told Izvestia, we are talking about 12 aircraft of different types — nine aircraft of the Tu-204-214 family, one An-148 and two IL-96. According to experts, they are under 30 years old.
The process of their restoration started in 2022, and at the moment 10 of the 12 aircraft have already been returned to service and are being operated by various customers. Among the recipients are Red Wings and other companies.
In 2026-2027, two more restored Tu-204s will be handed over to operators, Rostec noted.
However, not only domestic, but also foreign aircraft are being mothballed. The number of double-deck Boeing 747s flying on regular routes may double in 2026-2027. Thus, Rossiya Airlines plans to add two more wide-body airliners to the two operating ones, which it inherited after Transaero's bankruptcy in 2015-2016. This was reported to Izvestia by two sources familiar with the situation. These aircraft previously operated flights on Russian and foreign routes, but were put into storage during the coronavirus pandemic.
In September 2024, at the Eastern Economic Forum, Sergey Alexandrovsky, the head of Aeroflot, announced that the Boeing 747 would return to the skies due to the growing demand for air transportation. The first two of the eight aircraft available in the Rossiya fleet were delivered to the wing and were actively used on air routes in 2025.
A third 24-year-old aircraft was restored in November last year, and another Boeing 747 is scheduled to be commissioned in 2027, a source familiar with the situation told Izvestia.
This information was confirmed by another source close to the company that acquired the warehouses of the former Transaero. According to him, in 2025, purchases of spare parts for the Boeing 747, which were previously operated by Transaero, intensified: interior elements, filters, light bulbs, wiring, bathroom accessories, upholstery, and more were purchased. Other spare parts for technical systems are purchased abroad, as many parts have expired. The purchased components are enough to restore two Boeing 747s, the source said.
Reconstruction of the Boeing 747 can be carried out in friendly countries, for example in Iran, where there is a technical base and specialists, Anton Blik, an expert in the supply of complex technical products from Device Consulting LLC, told Izvestia.
These long-range aircraft up to 30 years old are much easier to return to service after storage than their modern counterparts. Since they were widespread, components for them were mass-produced, there are still many of them in warehouses and they are relatively inexpensive. The cost of restoring one such aircraft can reach 1 billion rubles, the expert noted.
According to the Izvestia source, the Boeing 747 can be used in different directions depending on the commercial load. In 2025, they most often flew to the Far East and Sochi.
According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, as of October 2025, the fleet of 76 airlines operating 99% of flights is 1,135 aircraft (67% of them are foreign-made). There were 1,088 aircraft in airworthiness status as of October 2025.
Izvestia sent a request to Rossiya Airlines.
Why are 30-year-old planes being reconstructed?
The restoration of mothballed airliners is an attempt to fill the emerging shortage of equipment, Andrey Patrakov, founder of the RunAvia flight safety service and aviation expert, told Izvestia.
There is a natural outflow of aircraft, which is exacerbated by sanctions in Russia. Against the background of a reduction in fleets, the capacity limit was reached in 2024: the average seat load exceeded 96% during the peak summer period and 75% the rest of the time.
A slight decrease in passenger traffic in 2025 is directly related to the reduction of the fleet, the expert notes.
As Dmitry Yadrov, head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, reported last October, 230 Russian and 109 foreign aircraft may be eliminated from airline fleets by 2030. The average age of civil vessels of the largest 15 Russian carriers is about 14 years.
Russian airlines use 100% of their serviceable fleet, while 2-3% of aircraft are written off annually, and there is nowhere to take new ones, the editor-in-chief of the portal told Izvestia. Avia.ru Roman Gusarov. Passenger traffic on long-distance tourist destinations is gradually being taken over by foreign carriers. Therefore, the desire of domestic airlines to return long-haul airliners to service is understandable, the expert believes.
"The period during which aircraft can be stored is unlimited, provided that all preventive maintenance is carried out in strict accordance with the regulations," Oleg Panteleev, executive director of the Aviport agency, told Izvestia.
All aircraft elements that may be damaged are protected by covers, or preservatives are applied to them. In addition, it is necessary to periodically carry out preventive maintenance, up to putting the liner under current to check the operation of a number of systems, and if deficiencies are identified during the inspection, they are eliminated, the expert explained.
— There are two main markets for the Boeing 747 — the Far East and the South. In 2026, with the opening of airports in Gelendzhik and Krasnodar, the demand for flights to Sochi may partially be redistributed between these three airports," Oleg Panteleev noted.
Therefore, in modern conditions, with a stable price for jet fuel, the return to the skies of the Boeing 747 looks appropriate. Although, of course, all other things being equal, the economics of operating more modern Boeing 777s would be more profitable, the expert believes.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
