MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/. Production of narrow-body Tu-214 planes is planned to be increased to 20 per year in 2026-2027, Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov told TASS in an interview.

"Our goal is to make 10 planes by 2025, and possibly make 20 planes in 2026-2027," he said.

The deputy prime minister said that the Tu-214 was previously supplied only for the needs of specialized aviation services, but the enhanced production aims to meet the needs of commercial airlines, with the start of deliveries planned for 2024. Aircraft of this type that’s now in service in other sectors, could be retrofitted for commercial use as soon as this year, Manturov said.

The CEO of Rostec, Sergey Chemezov, earlier in May told Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin that efforts to increase production of these aircraft to 20 per year would require additional funding. The prime minister said the funding could come from the National Wellbeing Fund.

The plan to increase production of the Tu-214 has been necessitated by Western sanctions on Russia, as the deliveries of Airbus and Boeing aircraft stopped and European countries and the United States refused to provide maintenance and supply spare parts for the planes of those types that are now operated by Russian airlines. Until recently, the Tu-214 was produced in small numbers, as it is currently used only for government purposes. Going forward, Aeroflot could book many such aircraft. According to the Russian Transport Minister Vitaly Saveliev, the airline regards the Tu-214 as the core of its fleet in the future.