Speaking during a visit to an aircraft factory last week, Mr. Mishustin said, "Russia will invest nearly 42 billion rubles ($500 million) to improve and expand production of Tupolev Tu-214 aircraft."

The Tu-214 is a modern narrow-body twin-engine aircraft with a range of 6,500 km and a capacity of 210 passengers. It was introduced in 1996 to replace the Tu-154, which was the most widely used aircraft in the former Soviet Union and Russia from the 1960s to the early 2000s.

Russia will spend 500 million USD to produce Tupolev Tu-214 aircraft. Photo: VNA

Russia has been trying to develop an alternative to imported aircraft since the West imposed sanctions over Ukraine.

The world's two largest aircraft manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, have been forced to stop supplying spare parts, maintenance and technical support to airlines or maintenance companies in Russia. The Russian government says the current imported fleet will operate until 2030 if properly maintained.

Russia's largest airline, Aeroflot, sees the Tu-214 as a potential asset and plans to purchase 40 of the aircraft by 2030. The aircraft is already in service with two smaller domestic airlines, and Aeroflot has given the manufacturer recommendations on how to modernize and improve the aircraft's design.

According to the Russian government, it will take five years for the country to establish mass production of domestic aircraft to replace foreign aircraft.

VNA