The certification program for the wide-body aircraft Il-96-400M has completely stalled after import substitution. Since October 2025, the test aircraft with tail number 96115 has not taken to the skies once, according to analysts at the "Let's Fly Together" blog.
As a reminder, aircraft No. 96115 made its first flight on November 1, 2023, and in 2024, it underwent a certification testing program until mid-October.
From May to October 2025, the Il-96-400M performed 16 flights and logged 48 hours. It has not flown since October 15 for unknown reasons.
As a reminder, the wide-body aircraft of the "Il" series are built at the VASO aviation plant in Voronezh. The head of the regional Ministry of Industry and Trade, Sergei Khlyzov, stated about the lack of orders for Il-96 series aircraft. In his opinion, domestic airlines decided to wait for the opportunity to buy Boeing.
For now, the key recipient of wide-body aircraft, namely the Il-96-300, remains the special flight detachment "Russia". Meanwhile, VASO is expanding the runway specifically for testing wide-body aircraft, but the plant was only allowed to own the territory for five years.