In Russia, tests of the long-range wide-body aircraft Il-96-400M have officially resumed. Aircraft No. 96115 completed a record 9-hour non-stop flight from Zhukovsky to Novosibirsk and back.
It is worth noting that this is the first flight of the aircraft after six months. The last time the test aircraft took to the sky was on October 15, 2025.
Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov stated that the Il-96-400M will complement the range of civil aircraft and ensure the development of the route network throughout the country.
However, aviation expert Roman Gusarov explained to "First Technical" that in reality, the Voronezh Aviation Plant is building exactly one aircraft every two years. Therefore, a large serial production should not be expected.
He called the problem of the enterprise a large amount of manual labor and paper documentation on the Il-96-400M, that is, the aircraft is not digitized.