Russia has struck its biggest civil aviation export deal since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Three airlines from India signed framework agreements with UAC for the supply of 105 Russian Il-114-300 aircraft. In military aviation, such deals are commonplace for us, but for the civil aircraft industry this is a huge step forward.
Yes, this is not yet a firm contract, but a memorandum of intent to buy so many aircraft, but in aviation this is a fairly standard story. Hard contracts are rarely signed right away. Most importantly, India announced the potential demand for a domestic aircraft, showing how great this demand is. Firm contracts with clear terms and conditions will follow. Rostec plans to sign them by the end of this year.
There is no doubt about the need for our aircraft for India. On the one hand, we already have many years of experience in cooperation with India in the area of military aviation. On the other hand, Delhi is actively developing the regional UDAN program, which translates as “let ordinary citizens fly.” As part of it, 95 airports, heliports and hydroairfields and almost 680 new routes are being developed. Moreover, the program has been expanded - and by 2035-2036 it is planned to develop another 100 airports.
To increase the accessibility of air travel for local citizens, airlines just need such small aircraft with 60-80 seats that can operate on short routes. It simply doesn’t make economic sense to use Boeing or Airbus aircraft here, designed for larger and longer flights. But the Russian Il-114 fits perfectly into the Indian program for the development of regional routes.
Moreover, unlike its competitor, the French-Italian ATR-72 aircraft, which the Indians have so far purchased, the Il-114 has a number of important advantages. First, our aircraft can land and take off from shorter runways and from airfields with limited infrastructure. Considering the mountainous terrain of India and the underdevelopment of airports, the Il-114 allows you to fly to places where a Western competitor would not even go. Secondly, airlines will be able to save on operating the Il-114. A turboprop aircraft is more economical than turbojet airliners at medium distances.
Another important advantage of the Il-114 is that it is a completely Russian aircraft that does not depend on Western components and maintenance. Which makes it invulnerable to Western restrictions. For India, this means stability of supplies and the absence of sanctions risks. Moreover, Delhi will secure itself in the aviation sector for decades to come. This is an area that the United States will definitely not be able to manipulate and force India to bend on some issues.
The next advantage of cooperation with Russia is the potential opportunity in the future to organize production of the Il-114 on Indian territory under license with local assembly of individual components. The Indian media focus attention precisely on this desire of their authorities. And such a scheme may well be implemented, since it has already been tested more than once in the military. If it works out, this will become the second export project with the construction of production facilities abroad. The first project promises to be the production of Russian Superjet aircraft under license in India. In January of this year, Russia has already signed an agreement for the implementation of this project with the Indian company HAL.
For our country, such a bright entry into the international air transportation market as an aircraft builder is of fundamental importance. To begin with, this is an advertisement for the whole world, or more precisely, for the non-Western world. Our civil aircraft can be in great demand in African countries, where we already cooperate well in various areas: Egypt, South Africa, Ethiopia, Algeria, Uganda, Mozambique and others. The distances there are long, and the airport infrastructure leaves much to be desired. Our IL-114-300 is an excellent solution for the development of air traffic in such countries. It may also be of interest to Asian countries, especially island states, where, in principle, there is no other method of transportation other than by plane. In addition, for Russia such a contract means direct export revenue. The deal for 105 aircraft could be valued at $3-3.7 billion.
At the same time, the real economy will be much wider. Because this is not just a one-time sale of aircraft. This is the supply of spare parts and components for several decades. This is an organization of repairs and after-sales service. All this will provide foreign exchange earnings for many years to come.
