Antonov An-148/An-158

Updated: October 2026 – A compact jet rolls past, the wing sits on top of the fuselage, two engines hang underneath, and a tall T-tail rises at the rear. If you come across this combination, it could be an Antonov An-148, the regional jet from Kyiv. Only just under 50 were built, and the type’s history is closely tied to Russian-Ukrainian cooperation. On this page you will learn how the An-148 and its stretched sister, the An-158, came about, how to recognize them and where you still have any chance of a sighting at all.

What is the Antonov An-148?

The An-148 is a twin-jet regional aircraft for around 70 to 90 passengers, developed by the Ukrainian manufacturer Antonov. The project ran under this name from 2001. The goal was a modern successor to the aging Soviet short-haul jets Tu-134 and Yak-42, which were still in widespread use in the successor states of the Soviet Union.

Antonov did not start from scratch. The starting point was the An-74TK-300, a version of the short-takeoff transport An-72/An-74 whose engines hang classically under the wing rather than above it. Over several project names, this concept became a pure passenger jet. The high-wing layout remained – and still makes the An-148 unmistakable today.

The prototype flew on December 17, 2004 in Kyiv. On February 26, 2007 the type received its certification from the Ukrainian authorities and the Interstate Aviation Committee of the CIS states. The An-148 flew its first scheduled flight in June 2009 with the Ukrainian Aerosvit, on the route from Kharkiv to Kyiv. In December 2009 the airline Rossiya followed in Russia.

Technology: a regional jet with transport genes

The An-148 takes over the basic idea of the Antonov transports: it is also designed for airfields where infrastructure is thin. This shows in several details.

• High wing: The wing sits on top of the fuselage. As a result the engine nacelles hang farther above the ground, and the intakes ingest fewer foreign objects on simple runways.
• Engines: Two turbofans of type D-436-148, developed by Progress and built by Motor Sich in Zaporizhzhia. The same engine family is also found in modernized form in other Eastern European types.
• Autonomous operation: An auxiliary power unit (APU) supplies power and compressed air on the ground, and a built-in passenger stair makes boarding possible without airstairs.
• Fly-by-wire and glass cockpit: It is flown by two pilots with electronic flight controls and large displays built by the Russian manufacturer Aviapribor.
• Main landing gear on the fuselage: Because the wing is on top, the main landing gear retracts into the fuselage area. This puts the fuselage low, which makes loading and unloading easier.

In its dimensions the An-148 is a typical regional jet: 29.13 m long with a 28.91 m wingspan. According to the data sheet the cabin is around 3.15 m wide. Depending on version, the range extends from around 2,200 km on the An-148-100A to around 4,400 km on the An-148-100E.

The variants: An-148, An-158 and offshoots

The family is manageable. For spotters, two basic types count above all, plus a few special versions.

An-148-100: The base version comes in several range levels, usually designated An-148-100A, -100B and -100E. From the outside they hardly differ; the differences lie in fuel capacity and weights. Russia’s military and agencies also use aircraft of this version, some with special equipment for government and agency flights.

An-158: The stretched version first flew on April 28, 2010. The fuselage is around 1.7 m longer, so up to 99 passengers fit in. Antonov offered it with winglets; according to the manufacturer this reduces fuel consumption by several percent. The largest customer was Cuba.

An-168 or An-148-300: A business travel and VIP variant with longer range. It remained a niche product.

An-178: Not a true family member, but a close relative. The freighter takes over components of the An-158 but has a wider fuselage with a tail ramp. More on the page about the An-178.

Feature	An-148-100	An-158
ICAO type designator	A148	A158
First flight	December 17, 2004	April 28, 2010
Length	29.13 m	around 30.8 m
Wingspan	28.91 m	28.91 m
Seats	around 70–90	up to 99
Winglets	usually no	possible

The features that are enough to identify it

The An-148 is easy to recognize once you know what matters. Three glances are usually enough.

How to read engines and their arrangement in general is explained in the article Identifying engines. You get an overview of the common short-haul jets in the guide Telling regional jets apart.

An-148, BAe 146, An-72 or Superjet?

The risk of confusion exists mainly with other high-wing aircraft and with regional jets from the same region. The finder helps narrow it down.

Feature	An-148/An-158	BAe 146/Avro RJ	An-72/An-74	Superjet 100
Wing	high	high	high	low
Engines	2, under the wing	4, under the wing	2, on the wing	2, under the wing
Tail	T-tail	T-tail	T-tail	conventional
Rear	closed	closed	cargo hatch with ramp	closed
Role	regional jet	regional jet	transport	regional jet

You can find more on the comparison candidates on the pages about the BAe 146-200, the Avro RJ85 and the Sukhoi Superjet 100. If you know Antonov’s turboprop line, you will see parallels to the An-24 and the An-140: there too, the wing sits on top.

History: between Kyiv and Voronezh

The An-148 was a cross-border project from the start. Besides Antonov’s production plant in Kyiv, the Russian aircraft plant VASO in Voronezh built the type in series. More aircraft were built there than in Ukraine: according to common figures, a good 30 of the just under 50 built come from Voronezh.

After 2014 the cooperation fell apart. Antonov withdrew from the joint venture with Russia in 2015, and Rossiya suspended operation of its An-148s in April 2015. In early 2018 Ukraine banned the sale of D-436 engines to Russia. In October 2018 the last aircraft built in Voronezh was completed, after which VASO switched to other programs such as the Il-112.

A severe blow was February 11, 2018: a Saratov Airlines An-148 crashed in the Moscow region a few minutes after takeoff from Moscow Domodedovo, killing all 71 people on board. Investigators named iced-up pitot tubes whose heating had not been switched on as the cause; as a result the instruments showed incorrect speeds. The Russian transport oversight authority subsequently called for a flight ban on the type, which in practice only affected Saratov Airlines. How this type fits into the long line of Eastern European airliners is shown by the article Soviet airliners.

The Russian successor projects for this class are the Superjet 100 and, one class larger, the Irkut MC-21. China’s counterpart in the regional jet segment is the Comac ARJ21.

Who flew and flies the An-148?

The operator list is short but colorful. The most important stops at a glance:

• Ukraine: Aerosvit was the launch operator and from 2010 also flew the An-148 into the EU, including to Poland. Aerosvit is now history. Ukrainian government operators and Antonov Airlines also listed individual aircraft according to operator lists.
• Russia: The Russian Air Force received 15 aircraft, plus examples for the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the presidential administration and the border guard. Civil operators of the type included Rossiya, Saratov Airlines and Angara Airlines.
• Cuba: Cubana de Aviación took over six An-158s from April 2013. In May 2018 Cubana grounded the fleet, and the aircraft have been on the ground since.
• North Korea: Air Koryo received two An-148s and is thus among the most exotic operators.

Where to catch the An-148

There are no scheduled flights for the An-148 into Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Your chances depend on where you travel and what counts as a sighting for you.

Place	Chance of a hit	Why
Airports in Germany, Austria, Switzerland	very low	no scheduled flights, Russian aircraft not allowed into EU airspace
Cuba	very low	Cubana’s An-158s have been on the ground since 2018
Pyongyang	low	Air Koryo fleet, but reachable only on organized trips
Russia	not recommended	strict photo rules and safety risks for spotters

Before you think about photographing in Eastern Europe, read the article on photography bans in Russia and Belarus. You can classify registrations from Ukraine (UR-), Russia (RA-) or Cuba (CU-) with the overview of aircraft country codes. Since many of the remaining aircraft fly with government operators, the guide Spotting government aircraft is also worth a look. If you would rather experience the type yourself, you will find inspiration under Flying on rare aircraft types.

How to follow flights with specific type codes live is explained in the guide on flight tracking with ADS-B. Keep in mind that military and government aircraft are often only partly visible.

Photo tips specifically for the An-148

The An-148 lives on its silhouette. A picture that doesn’t show the high wing and the nacelles underneath gives away the most important thing.

You can judge how special your sighting ultimately is with How rare is my sighting?. General tips for exotics are provided by the article Spotting rare aircraft.

Common mix-ups and how to rule them out

Conclusion

The An-148 is a regional jet with transport genes: high wing, rugged design and equipment for simple airfields. Technically it was an interesting approach, economically it remained a niche product. Political breaks, a serious crash and problems with the supply of spare parts meant that only just under 50 were built. For spotters in Western Europe it is therefore a real rarity – whoever gets one in the viewfinder has captured a piece of recent Eastern European aviation history.