The Il-96-400M and Airbus A330-900 belong to the same class of wide-body passenger aircraft. While the Voronezh Aircraft Plant is preparing the 'Ilyusha' for flights, skepticism reigns in airline offices and hopes to return to Western airliners.
What is this – cold pragmatism or unjustified business pessimism? Let's compare the 'Ilyusha' with the foreign benchmark for efficiency among long-haul aircraft – the Airbus A330-900.
Range
The Il-96-400M can fly 8,100 km with a load of 40 tons. The ferry range of the aircraft reaches 13,000 km, but without a standard commercial load.
The Airbus A330-900 with a maximum take-off weight of 251 tons has a range of up to 13,250 km. For the version with a maximum take-off weight of 253 tons, Airbus specifies up to 13,600 km.
When comparing range with commercial load, the European airliner retains the advantage.
Capacity
The Il-96-400M in its maximum single-class tourist configuration can accommodate up to 370 passengers.
The A330-900 in standard configuration is designed for approximately 303 passengers, but the maximum certified capacity reaches 465 seats.
This option allows for a significant increase in the number of seats due to a denser cabin layout, so the point goes to the 'Airbus'.
Efficiency
The Il-96-400M is equipped with four PS-90A1 engines, each with a maximum thrust of 17,400 kgf.
The Airbus A330-900 has two Trent 7000 engines. Depending on the modification, their maximum take-off thrust is up to 72,000 pounds, or approximately 32.6 tons of force, per engine.
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For the A330neo, the new power plant, along with aerodynamic improvements, provided a significant reduction in operating costs.
Airbus claims an advantage of approximately 25% in fuel consumption per seat compared to previous generation aircraft. The twin-engine design and more modern engines give the A330-900 an advantage in fuel efficiency, making the score significant.
Operation
As mentioned above, the Il-96-400M uses four engines, so if one fails, the aircraft retains the ability to continue flying on the remaining three power plants. The design life of the airliner is 12,000 flights and 60,000 hours.
The A330-900 gained the ability to perform long-haul routes away from airfields thanks to ETOPS rules. The aircraft is certified for flights with extended diversion times from alternate airfields, including options up to 285 minutes.
In addition, the A330neo has a developed international maintenance infrastructure and commonality with other Airbus family aircraft. Based on the totality of operational capabilities on long-haul international routes, the A330-900 gains the advantage.
Independence
Here the situation changes. The Il-96-400M is created based on the Russian production base, and its power plant consists of four domestic PS-90A1 engines. OAK indicates that most components are supplied by enterprises of the Russian industry.
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The A330-900, on the contrary, depends on an international production chain. The aircraft is equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, and Airbus assembles it from components produced in different countries.
For Russia, this is a fundamental difference – the Il-96-400M relies on national production cooperation and does not depend on supplies of foreign engines.
The final score is 4:1 in favor of the Airbus A330-900.
The A330-900 surpasses the Il-96-400M in range with commercial load, maximum passenger capacity, fuel efficiency, and operational capabilities on long-haul routes.
The Russian aircraft scores its only point for relying on domestic production cooperation.