MOSCOW, May 27. /TASS/. Russia will use the Ilyushin Il-96-400 plane to develop a long-range airliner, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Friday.

"A willful, wise and technological decision has been made on using the Il-96-400 aircraft as the basis to develop a plane in various modifications, including a long-range wide-body airliner," the vice-premier said at a board meeting of the Industry and Trade Ministry.

This modification of the Il-96-400 aircraft will meet the requirements of Russian airlines, including the development of the Russian-Chinese wide-body plane, Rogozin said.

"Before the development of the project we are discussing with our Chinese colleagues, this plane [this modification of the Il-96-400 aircraft] will close all our requirements and thus help our airlines [considering the exchange rate differences] use Russian aircraft instead of buying Boeing and Airbus airliners," the vice-premier said.

The Il-96 is a wide-body passenger jet for medium-and long-range airlines developed by the Ilyushin design bureau in the late 1980s. The plane performed its debut flight in 1988 and was serial-produced at the Voronezh Aircraft Manufacturing Enterprise.

Currently, the Il-96 plane is not serial-produced.

The wide-body plane being developed by the United Aircraft-Making Corporation and Chinese aircraft enterprises is planned to be offered to the market in 2023-2025.