Russia is preparing to make air passengers help finance the country’s long-promised fleet renewal. President Vladimir Putin has instructed the Ministry of Industry and Trade to devise an additional charge on tickets to help cover the leasing and operation of 258 domestically produced aircraft.
The levy is being prepared for 2027, when Moscow says several of its main civilian aircraft programmes will reach crucial production and certification milestones. Yet most of the new fleet is not expected to be available to commercial airlines at scale by then, leaving carriers reliant on ageing foreign-built aircraft while passengers begin paying towards their replacements.
The final charge has not been set. Industry sources cited by Interfax have suggested it could add about 700 roubles to a domestic ticket and 1,800 roubles to an international fare. Those figures remain estimates, not an approved tariff.
The charge comes ahead of the aircraft
Russia’s aircraft-production programme envisages deliveries of 258 aircraft in four families: the MC-21, Tu-214, SJ-100 and Il-114-300. The stated aim is to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign aircraft and suppliers, a task made more difficult by restrictions on access to international parts, maintenance services and established supply chains.
The timetable shows how gradual that transition will be. The first Il-114-300 deliveries are expected in December 2026. The regional aircraft could be the earliest new option for Russian airlines, but its size and role mean it cannot replace every type of aircraft used across the country’s passenger network.
Modernised Tu-214 aircraft are expected to begin reaching commercial airlines in 2027. Vadim Badeha, head of the United Aircraft Corporation, has said that the aircraft currently being produced are intended for a “special customer”. Commercial deliveries therefore remain a future stage rather than an immediate source of large-scale fleet renewal.
The MC-21 and SJ-100 face a further hurdle. Their certification and the start of serial production in versions using domestic substitutes for foreign components are officially scheduled for 2027. Those milestones would mark the beginning of a new phase, not the instant arrival of enough aircraft to replace Russia’s existing fleet.
In the meantime, airlines must continue operating older foreign-built planes. Keeping those aircraft airworthy has become more complicated and expensive as access to parts, technical services and international supply networks has narrowed. The cost is likely to be reflected in fares even before the proposed aviation charge is introduced.
A smaller state contribution
The ticket levy is also being prepared as direct state support for the sector comes under pressure. The draft federal budget for 2027 to 2029 allocates 130.7 billion roubles to the aviation-industry development programme. That money is intended to support leasing schemes for 59 SJ-100 aircraft and 66 helicopters, including the Ansat and Mi-8MTV.
The allocation does not cover the full target of 258 passenger aircraft. Nor does it establish the eventual cost of leasing, maintaining and repairing every aircraft included in the wider programme. The proposed charge appears intended to cover at least part of that gap, although the government has not yet published the formula or collection arrangements.
Budget planning indicates that state support for the aviation sector will fall by 82.9 billion roubles, or 23.3 per cent, in 2027-29. The reduction comes as defence and military spending take priority, leaving less room for other industrial programmes. Moscow is therefore seeking to keep its aircraft plans moving while shifting more of the financial burden away from the federal budget.
This would create a layered financing model. Public money would support selected leasing arrangements; airlines would absorb the cost of operating both old and new aircraft; and passengers would provide an additional revenue stream through their tickets. The burden would be spread across travellers rather than left entirely with the state or the carriers.
The cost of replacing foreign systems
The need for a special source of revenue does not, by itself, prove that every Russian aircraft model is commercially unviable. It does show that the authorities expect the early operation of the new fleet to require structured support beyond ordinary airline revenues.
Part of the difficulty lies in replacing the systems previously supplied through international production networks. The MC-21 and SJ-100 are being adapted to use domestic engines, electronics and other components. The PD-14 and PD-8 engines, together with onboard electronics, are central to that effort.
Developing a domestic substitute is only one stage of the process. Manufacturers must also produce it consistently, certify it, maintain it in service and establish a dependable supply of spare parts. When production runs are small, development and support costs are spread across relatively few aircraft. That can make leasing and operation more expensive during the first years of commercial use.
The movement of certification and production schedules reflects those technical and industrial challenges. If the MC-21 or SJ-100 arrives later than planned, airlines will remain dependent on older aircraft for longer. They could also be asked to contribute to the financing system before the new planes have made a meaningful difference to available capacity.
Passengers may pay without choosing the aircraft
A charge applied broadly to tickets would protect manufacturers and leasing arrangements from some of the risks involved in introducing a small, newly developed fleet. It could give producers a more predictable market and reduce the pressure on airlines to carry all the initial costs themselves.
For passengers, however, the connection between payment and benefit would be indirect. Unless the final rules say otherwise, travellers could contribute to the programme even when flying on an older foreign-built aircraft rather than on an MC-21, SJ-100, Tu-214 or Il-114-300. It is not yet clear whether the charge would apply to every ticket or only to flights operated with Russian aircraft.
The possible amounts would come on top of fuel, maintenance, airport and existing leasing costs. If the levy pushes fares high enough to reduce demand, airlines could collect less revenue than expected. That is a possible consequence, not an established outcome: the final charge, its collection method and its effect on passenger traffic remain unknown.
For the airlines, neither side of the transition is straightforward. Continuing with older foreign aircraft means accepting rising maintenance and supply-chain costs. Moving to new domestic models means taking on unfamiliar equipment, training requirements, parts logistics and the risk that deliveries or repairs may take longer than planned.
The timing makes the uncertainty particularly sharp. Moscow is preparing the passenger-financing mechanism for 2027, the same year in which it expects the MC-21 and SJ-100 to enter certification and serial production in their domestic-component configurations. If those deadlines hold, the levy could help finance a fleet beginning to arrive. If they slip again, passengers may start paying for renewal while continuing to travel mainly on the aircraft the programme was meant to replace.
