Russia plans ticket surcharge to fund struggling aircraft industry
Russia plans to add a 500- or 1,000-rouble levy to air tickets from 2027 to fund its domestic civilian aircraft programme. The industry has produced no new serial aircraft since 2022.
Russia intends to introduce a levy on airline tickets from 2027 to finance its struggling civilian aircraft industry. According to the State Duma's budget and tax committee, domestic passengers would pay 500 roubles (€5.4) per ticket and international passengers 1,000 roubles (€10.8). The Ministry of Industry and Trade is developing the measure on the instructions of President Vladimir Putin.
The money would go towards leasing and operating 258 aircraft under the Comprehensive Programme for Expanding the Production of Aircraft, covering the MS-21, Tu-214, SJ-100 and Il-114-300 models.
Production keeps slipping
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, its civilian aircraft industry has built no new serial aircraft and has repeatedly missed deadlines. Between 2022 and 2025, Russian airlines received 13 new aircraft against a plan for 120, many of them assembled from components acquired before sanctions.
In summer 2026 the target for large-scale production was moved from 2030 to 2035. Certification and the start of serial production of the MS-21 and SJ-100 are currently set for 2027, while deliveries of the Il-114-300, which has already been certified, are promised from December 2026.
Fleet under strain
During the war, the Russian airline fleet has shrunk as ageing foreign-built aircraft are retired without replacement. Spare parts are scarce and increasingly costly, and Russia has approached Vietnam to obtain aircraft for lease.
Western sanctions imposed after the February 2022 invasion barred Russia from buying or leasing Western aircraft and from obtaining spare parts or maintenance. Moscow nonetheless passed a law letting airlines re-register more than 400 foreign-leased Western aircraft in Russia instead of returning them to their owners. International aviation law prohibits dual registration, making the re-registrations illegal, but the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has no mechanism to force returns. Lessors have filed insurance claims worth about $8 billion (€7.1bn), and many cases are still ongoing.
Before the invasion, roughly 850 of Russia's 900 commercial aircraft were Boeing or Airbus jets, and about 85% were leased from foreign firms. Airlines are now cannibalising the seized fleet for parts. The aerospace sector's main production capacity has shifted towards military aircraft. Official output figures are classified, but industry observers put production at dozens per year.
