Il-96-400M conducts first flight

On 1 November 2023, the Il-96-400M took to the skies for the very first time. RA-96115 (construction number unknown) flew for a total of 26 minutes, up to 2,000 meters and with a maximum speed of 390 km/h.

The Il-96-400M is a further development of the Il-96-400, which itself is a development of the Il-96-300. The biggest difference between the Il-96-400 and the -400M is that the cockpit is modified to a two-man cockpit thanks to the introduction of new, Russian, navigation equipment, reducing the need for a flight engineer/navigator. In total, it will be able to carry up to 370 passengers, making it a competitor to aircraft like the Airbus A330, A350, and Boeing B777 and B787.

Assembly of the aircraft started back in January 2020, and its first flight was originally planned for 2021. In the same year, UAC slowed down the development due to the lack of interest in the aircraft. Now, with sanctions in place against Russia, due to the invasion of Ukraine, development was accelerated again, which lead to the roll-out in June 2023. Despite the sanctions, UAC doesn't think demand for the Il-96-400M will be very high and has said it doesn't plan mass-production of the aircraft.

The Il-96-400M is joining the passenger-aircraft portfolio of UAC, which further consists of the MC-21, SJ-100, and Tu-214.

Photo by UAC.