The appearance of two Il-96s simultaneously undergoing tests at Khabarovsk airport once again raised questions about the fate of Russia's largest passenger aircraft. However, the situation turned out to be more complex: one of the airliners is an experimental Il-96-400M, while the second is used to test new systems, explained the publication "Tekhnosfera Rossiya".

The main event was the testing of the Il-96-400M aircraft with tail number 96115. The aircraft first took to the skies in November 2023 with updated equipment and modern avionics.

The Il-96-400M has a length of 63.9 m, a maximum take-off weight of about 270 tons, and can carry up to 435 passengers in a single-class configuration. For comparison, the cargo version Il-96-400T can carry up to 92 tons of cargo or deliver 40 tons over a distance of up to 10.6 thousand km.

Previously, there were plans to build 12 passenger Il-96-300s by 2030 – approximately 2 aircraft annually. In 2024–2026, the aircraft factory in Voronezh indeed showed stages of assembly of new machines – fuselages, wings, engine nacelles, and painting.

However, as of July 2026, the main customer for the Il-96 remains the Special Flight Detachment "Rossiya". In commercial aviation, there is currently no permanent Russian operator of this type.