United Aircraft’s Ilyushin division chief is confident that the certification process for the Il-114-300 turboprop will be completed this year.

Speaking during the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on 5 September, Daniil Brenerman stated that prototypes had carried out more than 350 flights.

“It’s already rather mature, it’s ready,” he says.

Aurora Airlines signed to lease three Il-114-300s during the forum, and Brenerman says the two sides have been co-operating closely on the finalisation of tests.

“[We] met, online and offline, almost every week,” he says. “We’d listen to the experience of using aircraft in the [Russian Far East].”

Brenerman says Soviet-era aircraft “are getting old” and foreign models “are being used less because of sanctions”.

He says that, this year, “we’ll finish the certification process” and then the company will be working with airlines.

The Il-114-300 is “not just a replacement”, he adds, “it’s another step”, claiming that the fuel consumption is better than that of foreign aircraft and stating that the turboprop has been designed specifically for the Far East environment.

“Little by little it’s going to replace the aircraft being used now,” he says.

Russian federal aviation regulator Rosaviatsia’s chief, Dmitry Yadrov, at the same forum session confirmed plans to complete Il-114-300 certification measures this year.

“Lots of aircraft are [being withdrawn from] operation, some of the previous generation are serving for about 60 years,” he says. “This is the nearest aircraft from the standpoint of certification, the Il-114 is at the final stage at the moment.”

He says this is “confirmed not just by words, but with figures”.

Aurora is leasing the Il-114-300s from state company GTLK. Newly-appointed GTLK chief Mikhail Parnev said the aircraft has “great potential” for supporting fleet modernisation, particularly as a replacement for Antonov An-24s and An-26s.

“[We] definitely need to replace [these] with something sensible,” he adds, highlighting the need to access difficult-to-reach areas.

Aurora general director Konstantin Sukhorebrik also pointed out that other factors – specifically the need to reconstruct or refurbish infrastructure – are “hindering” expansion plans in the region.

While he is satisfied with the situation at larger airports, he says, the “picture is quite different” on the regional network – with “bad equipment” and no hotels or restaurants, “not even cafes in some cases”, which complicates matters if passengers are face severe flight delays.