Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
It cannot fly in icy or stormy conditions either.
Getting from point A to point B in the freezing northern cold is hard enough. But it gets worse when global conflict cuts off access to foreign technology.
Western sanctions have severely crippled Russia’s commercial aviation sector. According to Onet, 130 aircraft out of 673 owned by major carriers were entirely inoperable by late June.
To fix this, President Vladimir Putin’s government has poured money into domestic aircraft manufacturing. Its crown jewel was the Ilyushin Il-114-300, a new passenger turboprop designed specifically for the freezing far north.
But the dream has hit a major roadblock.
No cold allowed
While aviation authority Rosaviatsiya recently certified the plane, the approval came with a glaring catch. By any standard, this is bizarre for an Arctic aircraft.
Aviation portal aeroTelegraph cites certification documents revealing that the final approval only allows flights in temperatures between minus 9 and plus 25 degrees Celsius—not exactly Arctic conditions.
It gets worse. Flights during storms or icy conditions are banned, and pilots cannot land on wet or dirty runways. This presents a massive hurdle as the plane was built to replace aging Soviet-era Antonov aircraft on rugged, unpaved northern airstrips.
United Aircraft Corporation, the manufacturer, is trying to downplay the issue. It insists a phased approval process is normal.
According to the company, the plane has successfully flown at minus 42 degrees Celsius, and broader certification will follow soon.
Already three years late
Even if the technical issues are resolved, getting the planes into the sky will take time. The ambitious project has suffered years of constant setbacks.
Originally scheduled for a 2023 release, the delivery target has repeatedly slipped, with full certification now pushed back to 2026.
Mixed messages from Russian officials also raise questions. While the Ministry of Transport claims the first three planes will arrive this year, Rostec Chief Executive Sergey Chemezov recently admitted that mass production will not start until 2027.
