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The Ilyushin Il-96 (Russian: Ил-96) is a four-engined long-haul widebody airliner designed by Ilyushin in the Soviet Union and manufactured by the Voronezh Aircraft Production Association in Voronezh, Russia. It is powered by four Aviadvigatel PS-90 two-shaft turbofan engines.

Il-96
An Aeroflot Il-96-300
Role	Widebody jet airliner
Design group	Ilyushin
Built by	Voronezh Aircraft Production Association
First flight	September 28, 1988
Introduction	December 29, 1992 with Aeroflot
Status	in service
Primary users	Aeroflot Cubana
Produced	1993-present
Number built	29
Unit cost	US$ 40-50 million
Developed from	Ilyushin Il-86

Design and development

Inside an Ilyushin Il-96

 

The Ilyushin Il-96 is a shortened, long-range, and advanced technology development of Russia's first widebody airliner, the Ilyushin Il-86. It features supercritical wings fitted with winglets, a glass cockpit, and a fly-by-wire control system. It was first flown in 1988 and certified in 1992. The basic Il-96-300 is equipped with modern Russian avionics integrating six multi-function colour LCD displays, inertial and satellite navigation systems, and a Traffic Collision Avoidance System (including mode "S"). It allows the airplane to be operated with two crew members. The avionics correspond to modern requirements on international routes in Europe and North America (RNP-1) and allow navigation and landing under ICAO CAT III/A conditions. The Il-96 is offered in three main variants: the Il-96-300, Il-96M/T and Il-96-400.

The Il-96-300 has a standard passenger capacity of 262 seats in a two-class configuration with 18 seats with a seat pitch of 54 inches (140 cm) and 244 seats with a pitch of 32 inches (81 cm), of which typical seating is 3-3-3 (layout), but low density seating is 2-4-2 (layout possible). Galleys are positioned on the upper deck, and the lower deck can accommodate 18 LD-3 containers and crew rest areas. Although its list price is more than 30% lower than equivalent Western types, Russian airlines are not particularly eager to buy it. As of September 2006, there were only 17 Il-96-300s in operation with Aeroflot (6 of the 17), KrasAir (2), Domodedovo Airlines (3; actually operated by Krasair on behalf of AiRUnion alliance), Atlant-Soyuz Airlines (1; cargo version), Cubana de Aviación (3) and Rossiya (2). Two more aircraft are being readied at the plant in Voronezh for shipment to the government of Cuba. Aeroflot and Transaero received tax exemption when importing Western-built aircraft in exchange for their promising to buy a few Il-96s each. Aeroflot-Cargo initiated talks about ordering 6 Il-96-400T and ordered 6 more Il-96-300

Meanwhile, Air Zimbabwe was planning to purchase 5 Il-96-300. However, after talks with Russian authorities, the order was cancelled (along with Tupolev orders).

Iran Air took delivery of two Ilyushin Il-96-300s on short-term leases on from Russia's Kras Air in October 2006 and will use these aircraft on a trial basis for up to one year. If they meet its operational requirements, IFC will consider placing an order for up to four aircraft.

Cockpit of an Aeroflot Il-96-300

 

In June 2005, the Volga-Dnepr Group signed a 15-year financial agreement with Ilyushin Finance Corporation (IFC) to take delivery of two new-build Il-96-400T aircraft. The aircraft will be operated by Volga-Dnepr's subsidiary AirBridge Cargo. The first was due to have been delivered in late 2006.

The Cuban newspaper Granma announced on 3 January 2006 the first official flight of the Cubana Il-96-300, from Havana to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

On August 11, 2009 Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Khristenko announced that the manufacturing of the long-range aircraft of this class would be cancelled. In particular, the Il-96-300 had been deemed inferior to counterparts from Boeing and Airbus, and the manufacturer could not arrange commercially viable mass production, making only one plane per year^. The cargo version of the plane, Il-96T, will remain in production. This effectively means that Russia is left without a domestically manufactured long-range wide-body passenger plane.

Variants

There are two variants of the Il-96. The Il-96-300 was launched in 1985 with introduction into service in 1993. The Il-96M was launched in 1993 with introduction into service in 2000.

Il-96-300

The Il-96-300 is the initial variant and is fitted with Aviadvigatel (Soloviev) PS90A turbofans with a thrust rating of 16,000 kgf (157 kN, 35,300 lbf). Development started in mid-80s while the first prototype flew on 28 September 1988. The first Il-96 entered service with Aeroflot in 1993.

Range with 262 passengers and fuel reserves (for holding 75 minutes at an altitude of 450 m) in a two-class configuration is about 11,000 km (5,940 nmi), allowing flights from Moscow to US west coast cities, a far improvement over the Ilyushin Il-86. Two were used by Russian president Vladimir Putin, and are now used by Dmitry Medvedev as VIP planes. The VIP aircraft is operated by Rossiya Airlines.

This variant also comes in a longer-range version dubbed Il-96-300V.

A highly-customized version of the Il-96-300, called Il-96-300PU is used as the primary aircraft in the Russian presidential aircraft fleet.

Il-96M

Il-96T in Atlant-Soyuz Airlines livery at the MAKS Airshow, August 2007

The Il-96M is a stretched variant of the Il-96-300. It features a 10 m (30 ft) fuselage stretch, is 15 tonnes (33,000 lb) heavier, is fitted with Western-style avionics, and is powered by four Pratt & Whitney PW2337 engines with a thrust rating of 165 kN (37,000 lbf). Range with 312 passengers in a three-class configuration or 92 tonne (203,000 lb) payload is about 10,400 km (5,600 nmi). This turned it into a true -but vastly more capable — Il-86 successor. The Il-96M/T is broadly comparable with the Airbus A330-300 and McDonnell Douglas MD-11CF, but is much cheaper. Development on the M/T variant stalled when the US Export-Import Bank suspended talks on financing the engines and avionics, following pressure from Boeing. The dispute was later settled following an Aeroflot order for ten Boeing 737-400s —placed in April 1997 in a deal worth US$440 million— that were granted a tax exemption by the Russian government; nevertheless, the financing was blocked again when four Boeing 767-300ERs also ordered by Aeroflot were not included in the accorded exemption. The deal was never realised.

Il-96T

This is the freighter version of the Il-96M and Il-96-400. It is powered by four Aviadvigatel PS90 engines.

Il-96-400

The Il-96-400 was developed with Russian avionics and engines. It is based on the Il-96M/T fuselage and is powered by four Aviadvigatel PS90-A1 turbofans. It can carry up to 436 passengers. Typical two-class configuration will have 386 passengers. Range with 315 passengers in a three-class configuration is about 10,000 km. A special version, dubbed Il-96-400VT, was reported on Friday 19 March 2010 by the Wall Street Journal to bid on the US $40 billion Air Force Tanker Program contract.

Operators

Civil operators

All users (updated April 2012):

Airline	Aircraft Type	In Service	On Order	Stored
Aeroflot	Il-96-300	6	0	0
Cielos Airlines	Il-96-400T	0	2	0
Cubana	Il-96-300	3	0	0
Cubana	Il-96-400	0	3	0
Rossiya	Il-96-300	5	2	0
Domodedovo Airlines	Il-96-300	0	0	2
Polet Airlines	Il-96-400T	4	1	0
KrasAir	Il-96-300	0	0	1
Total		18	8	3

Military operators

 Cuba

• Cuban Air Force

Production by year

Specifications

Data from Ilyushin Aviation Complex, FAA Certification Document A54NM and Il-96-300 Pilot Manual

Aircraft lifetime

Source

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilyushin_Il-96