The light multipurpose aircraft LMS-901 "Baikal" has been under development in Russia since 2016 as a replacement for the outdated An-2. The aircraft is being designed for local airlines and operation in hard-to-reach areas of Siberia, the Far East, and the Far North. "Pervyi tekhnicheskii" recalled how the price of the aircraft changed over time.
What price was originally planned
The Ministry of Industry and Trade order from 2019 directly stated that the cost of the LMS-901 should not exceed 120 million rubles. In 2021, the Ural Plant of Civil Aviation (UZGA) said that the state could order at least 300 aircraft to replace the An-2 "crop dusters" for a total of 36 billion rubles.
Price growth by 2023
By 2023, according to Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev, the base price of the nine-seat "Baikal" had risen to 178 million rubles per aircraft. At the same time, the construction of 95 new aircraft for the Sakhalin airline "Aurora" at the State Transport Leasing Company was already estimated at 40 billion rubles.
Peak price and sharp decline
In 2024, the industry was stunned by the news that the "Baikal" was planned to be sold for 455 million rubles, which was almost three times higher than the base cost.
However, immediately after the Eastern Economic Forum, where Vladimir Putin called to speed up aircraft production, the stated price fell by almost half — from 455 to 260 million rubles.
Trutnev then ironically remarked that the president's instructions have a "magical influence on the surrounding world".
Current benchmarks for 2025
By July 2025, the projected cost of the LMS-901 had risen to 320 million rubles.
At the same time, a month earlier, UZGA CEO Leonid Luzgin clarified that the price would depend on the configuration and would range from 220 to 340 million rubles.
According to him, this level is comparable to the cost of the American Cessna Grand Caravan.
Too expensive
The implementation of the LMS-901 "Baikal" project in Russia is running up against economic feasibility. Domestic companies in the small aviation sector are unable to buy these aircraft at a price of more than 200 million rubles, said Oleg Smirnov, chairman of the Civil Aviation Commission of the Public Council of Rostransnadzor.
Read more materials on the topic:
- OAK will take over the projects of the manufacturer of the LMS-901 "Baikal"
- "Unfit aircraft": development of the LMS-901 "Baikal" has reached a dead end due to runway requirements
- "They can't make a \"crop duster\" in 20 years!": the communist leader is sounding the alarm over the state of the aviation industry
