In 2026–2027, Russian airlines plan to put mothballed Soviet- and foreign-made aircraft back into service on a large scale, most of which are over 30 years old. This is a forced measure amid a shrinking fleet and a lack of opportunities for full modernization.
Under the fleet restoration program extended to 2027, 10 of the 12 planned aircraft — including Tu-204/214, Il-96, and An-148 — have already returned to service. In 2026–2027, another two restored Tu-204s are expected to be returned to operation despite their moral and technical obsolescence.
At the same time, Russian airlines are being forced to reactivate foreign aircraft. In particular, the airline Rossiya is expanding its fleet of Boeing 747s inherited after Transaero’s bankruptcy. These planes, over 20 years old, are being returned to flight after years in storage, partly due to a lack of alternative aircraft.
As of October 2025, the largest Russian airlines had a total of 1,135 aircraft in their fleets, of which 1,088 were operational. Of these, 67% were foreign-made, with maintenance complicated by sanctions and parts shortages.
The crisis is especially severe in cargo aviation: air cargo turnover fell from 9.2 billion ton-kilometers in 2021 to 1.9 billion in 2024.
