Currently, Russia does not need as many An-2 type aircraft as it used to. This was stated to "Perviy Technicheskiy" by Oleg Panteleev, Executive Director of Aviaport Agency and aviation expert.
According to him, An-2s were popular, but they are not needed in the same quantity now.
Because today, no one in their right mind would transport passengers around the conditional Nizhny Novgorod region on an An-2. Paved roads have been laid everywhere, and capital bridges have been built across rivers. Today, air service has died in dozens of regions not because there is no replacement for the An-2, but because there are roads, bridges, buses, private cars, and so on.
Panteleev clarified that for aerial chemical works or patrolling, the focus is obviously on drones.
The niche in which an aircraft the size of the An-2 can exist has shrunk incredibly.
Honored Test Pilot of the Russian Federation, Hero of Russia Alexander Garnaev, in an interview with "Perviy Technicheskiy", stated that attempts to replace the An-2 have failed. He pointed out that the creation of the LMS-901 "Baikal" has not yet brought success.