The Il-114-300 and Yak-40 are separated by almost 60 years. The former was created to replace an entire generation of regional aircraft, while the latter was designed to carry 24–32 passengers on short routes. But if you compare the machines side-by-side based on their main characteristics, the result is not so obvious.
"Perviy Tekhnicheskiy" armed itself with a calculator and calculated which of the two airliners would be more profitable on regional routes in 2026.
Capacity
The Il-114-300 is designed for 64–68 passengers, while later versions of the Yak-40 carried up to 32 people. The maximum takeoff weight of the Il-114-300 reaches 23.5 tons, while for later Yak-40s it is about 17.2 tons.
At the same time, the Il-114-300 is noticeably larger: its length is 26.9 m, and its wingspan is 29.9 m. For the Yak-40, these figures are 20.4 and 25 m, respectively. Here, the Il-114-300 has an unconditional victory.
Speed
The gap here turned out to be minimal. The Il-114-300 is capable of developing a cruising speed of about 500 km/h, with a maximum reaching approximately 550 km/h. The Yak-40 cruises at about 510 km/h.
That is, the jet aircraft is indeed faster, but only by about 2% in cruising flight. On a 500 km route, the time difference will be measured in minutes. The winner is the Yak-40, but with a minimal advantage.
Range
With a full passenger load, the Il-114-300 can fly about 1400 km. For the Yak-40, with maximum commercial load, the range was approximately 800–1000 km, depending on the modification and conditions.
Thus, the new aircraft is capable of serving longer regional routes without sacrificing passenger load — the Il-114-300 deservedly gets a point.
Takeoff and Landing
Here, the old Yak-40 shows why it was created this way. Three engines are located in the tail section, so they are better protected from foreign objects from the runway. The aircraft is designed to operate from small airfields and has very good performance on short runways.
The Il-114-300 was also designed for regional airfields and can operate from unpaved runways, but its low-mounted engines with propellers require more thorough surface preparation. Therefore, the Soviet legend wins.
Fuel Efficiency
The main advantage of the Il-114-300 is not speed, but economics. The Yak-40 uses three AI-25 turbofan engines, while the Il-114-300 uses two TV7-117ST-01 turboprop engines with a power of up to 3100 hp each.
The modern power plant is noticeably more efficient at speeds typical for regional aviation. At the same time, the Il carries approximately twice as many passengers, so its advantage in fuel consumption per passenger is particularly great.
The final score is 3:2 in favor of the Il-114-300.
The Yak-40 surpasses the Il-114-300 in speed and takeoff/landing capabilities, but the latter wins due to its greater capacity, flight range, and fuel efficiency.
The main difference between them is not just age. The Yak-40 was a fast 32-seat jet aircraft for short routes. The Il-114-300 was created as a 64–68-seat aircraft with lower fuel consumption per passenger, capable of replacing old regional airliners in the modern aviation system.