Russia needs to begin mass production of civilian planes on tight deadlines - Rostec head

MOSCOW. March 17 (Interfax) - Rostec needs to begin large-scale production of civilian planes on tight deadlines because of the Western sanctions, and a possible resumption of mass manufacturing of Ilyushin Il-96 and Tupolev Tu-214 is now under consideration, Rostec head Sergei Chemezov said.

"Against the backdrop of serious restrictions on operation of foreign-made civilian planes, the domestic aircraft industry has ambitious tasks. What is more, they need to be accomplished on tight deadlines. First of all, it is necessary to scale up production of the available plane models," the Rostec press service quoted Chemezov as saying on Thursday.

"It is also necessary to consider a possible resumption of mass production of the Tupolev Tu-204/214 medium-haul aircraft and the Ilyushin Il-96 Russian wide-body plane," he said.

A fast substitution of key imported goods, technologies and systems is an absolute priority of Russian industries, Chemezov said.

"The resumption of mass production is viewed as an additional measure to be undertaken before large-scale production of newest import-substituting aircraft, such as SSJ-New and MC-21, which are on par with the world's best aircraft, is launched," the press service said.

Rostec includes the United Aircraft Corporation, which designs and makes all domestic military planes, as well as civilian planes for over 50 passengers.