Aircraft
Aviastar Rekindles Hopes for Tu-204
Sees ruble devaluation, opening Iranian market as potential demand drivers
A Tu-204 for Russia's Presidential Air Detachment undergoes final assembly in Ulianovsk. (Photo: Vladimir Karnozov)
A Tu-204 for Russia's Presidential Air Detachment undergoes final assembly in Ulianovsk. (Photo: Vladimir Karnozov)

Russian airframe manufacturer Aviastar expects “an important change in attitude” toward the midrange, single-aisle Tupolev Tu-204 airliner amid ongoing Western sanctions that have resulted in a sharp devaluation of the ruble. Although this year Aviastar, the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) subsidiary based in Ulianovsk, expects to deliver just two VIP -configured Tu-204-300s to the Presidential Air Detachment, Aviastar CEO Sergei Dementiev sees good reason to maintain the plant’s ability to build the Soviet-era-designed narrowbody. “We are ready to take orders, including from commercial airlines,” said Dementiev.


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