Arkhangelsk Oblast intends to become one of the first operators of the new Il-114-300 turboprop aircraft. The head of the region, Alexander Tsybulsky, visited the Lukhovitsky Aviation Plant named after P.A. Voronin. There, he inspected the production and two prototypes of the machine.
The new passenger aircraft is of interest to the region primarily on scarce routes, where there are often not enough tickets for passengers, as well as on tourist routes. For example, Solovki is a very popular destination, especially in season. Plus, those routes that we are ready to subsidize ourselves additionally from the budget.
Together with the governor, representatives of the regional Ministry of Transport and pilots of the 2nd Arkhangelsk Joint Aviation Squadron studied the equipment.
In the near future, one of the prototypes of the Il-114-300 will fly to Arkhangelsk Oblast. The machine will undergo a series of flights to test in natural icing conditions. This is necessary to confirm the possibility of safe operation in the North. The tests will show how the aircraft's systems react to low temperatures and icing.
Tsybulsky noted that the new aircraft are planned to be used on the Arkhangelsk — Murmansk, Naryan-Mar, Petrozavodsk and St. Petersburg routes. In addition, local flights are being considered: to Novaya Zemlya, Solovki and Kotlas. The region expects to update its fleet of aircraft to improve the transport accessibility of remote areas.
Earlier, Dmitry Dyakonov, chief designer of KB-602 and a teacher at an engineering university, noted that the Il-114-300 aircraft is entirely composed of domestic components. Not a single part is of foreign origin. This should have been an advantage, but in reality the situation is the opposite.
