Ilyushin Il-114

Updated: October 2026 – A slim fuselage, a straight wing set low and two turboprops with six propeller blades each: that is the Ilyushin Il-114. It was meant as the successor to the Antonov An-24 but remained a sideshow in its first series. With the Il-114-300, Russia is now bringing the type back. Here you read where the Il-114 comes from, what sets the relaunch apart, how to recognize it with confidence and why it is one of the rarest encounters of all for spotters in the German-speaking countries.

What is the Ilyushin Il-114?

The Il-114 is a twin-engine turboprop airliner for regional routes with room for about 64 passengers. The Ilyushin design bureau – known for types like the Il-62, the Il-86 and the Il-76 transport – began development in the mid-1980s. The goal was clear: the Soviet Union needed a modern replacement for the Antonov An-24, which was then serving thousands of short routes.

The Il-114 was meant to fly more economically, carry more passengers and still cope with simple airfields. The prototype took off on its first flight on March 29, 1990 at Zhukovsky near Moscow. The type certificate followed in April 1997 – seven years later, because the collapse of the Soviet Union hit the program in the middle of testing.

For the place in the history of Soviet and Russian airliners, the overview Soviet airliners is worthwhile. There you see how the Il-114 fits into the long line of Ilyushin propeller aircraft that began with the Il-18.

The first series: built in Tashkent

The Il-114 was not built in Russia but at the large aircraft plant in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. Series production began in 1992 – just when the Soviet Union was breaking apart and the plant suddenly lay in an independent state. Supply chains broke, money was missing, and many skilled workers left. Production therefore progressed only slowly.

By the end of manufacturing in Tashkent in 2012, only about 20 aircraft had been built; depending on the source the numbers vary slightly because prototypes, test beds and special versions are counted differently. By comparison: of the An-24, which it was meant to replace, there were more than a thousand. The Il-114 thus remained a niche aircraft.

Il-114-100 with Western engines

To make the type more attractive, the Il-114-100 was created. Instead of the Russian Klimov TV7-117S engines it got Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127H – a variant from the same engine family that powers the ATR 72. This version made its first flight on January 26, 1999.

The most important customer for the Il-114-100 was Uzbekistan Airways. The Uzbek state airline flew the Il-114 from the late 1990s, most recently as a small fleet of the Il-114-100, on domestic routes and to neighboring countries. In May 2018 it took the Il-114 out of commercial service. That ended the era of the first series in passenger service.

Vyborg and the special versions

In Russia the airline Vyborg flew two Il-114s in scheduled service until it ceased operations in 2010. Several special versions were also built: a freighter (Il-114T), a flying test laboratory (Il-114LL) and designs for maritime patrol and radar surveillance. A maritime patrol variant was shown in 2018 at the KADEX defense show in Kazakhstan.

The Il-114-300: a restart in Russia

After 2014 the Il-114 came back into focus in Russia. Western sanctions made clear how dependent Russian regional aviation was on imported aircraft and spare parts. At the same time the An-24 and its relatives kept getting older. The government therefore decided to relaunch the Il-114 in Russia as a modernized version.

The result is called the Il-114-300. Final assembly is at the Lukhovitsy plant southeast of Moscow, which belongs to the fighter manufacturer MiG. Assemblies come from other Russian plants, including Nizhny Novgorod, Ulyanovsk and Voronezh. The program is steered by the state corporation United Aircraft Corporation, under whose umbrella Ilyushin, Sukhoi and Tupolev now also work.

What is new?

The Il-114-300 looks very similar to its predecessor, but quite a lot has changed technically:

• Engines: Two Russian TV7-117ST-01s with about 3,000 hp of takeoff power each, digitally controlled.
• Propellers: New AV-112-114 six-blade propellers from Aerosila.
• Cabin: Revised interior with new seats, room for 64 to 68 passengers.
• Simple airfields: Built-in stairs and landing gear that also works on short, little-developed runways.
• Performance: According to the manufacturer, about 1,400 kilometers of range with full payload and a takeoff run of about 750 meters.

Long testing

The first flight of the Il-114-300 took place on December 16, 2020 at Zhukovsky – with a converted older prototype. After that the program stalled: in August 2021 the military transport Il-112V, which uses a closely related engine version, crashed. Testing was interrupted until the engines were reworked and certified. Only on March 31, 2024 did the first completely newly built Il-114-300 prototype take off at Lukhovitsy.

Certification flights followed, cold-weather tests in the Russian north and, according to reports, also tests in hot conditions in Uzbekistan. In June 2026 Russian officials announced the type certification at the economic forum in Saint Petersburg. First deliveries to customers were announced for 2026, regular scheduled service from 2027 according to Russian sources. Several regional airlines from Siberia and the Far East were named as interested parties, plus leasing companies. As of October 2026 you should treat statements on deliveries and scheduled service with caution: with Russian programs, dates have slipped several times in recent years.

Feature	Il-114 / Il-114-100	Il-114-300
Final assembly	Tashkent (Uzbekistan)	Lukhovitsy (Russia)
Engines	TV7-117S or PW127H	TV7-117ST-01
Propellers	Six-blade	Six-blade AV-112-114
Seats	about 64	64 to 68
Range (full payload)	about 1,000 km	about 1,400 km
First flight	1990 or 1999	2020

The Il-114-300 is part of a larger strategy. Besides it, Russia is increasingly relying on its own types with the Superjet 100 and the MC-21 – the Il-114-300 covers the lower end: short routes, small airfields, harsh climate.

How to recognize the Il-114

The Il-114 has one unmistakable feature that sets it apart from almost all other regional turboprops: it is a low-wing aircraft. On the ATR 42, ATR 72, Dash 8, An-24 or An-140 the wing sits on top of the fuselage. The Il-114 has it low.

Other features: the engine nacelles are long and extend far beyond the wing trailing edge, with the main gear underneath. The fuselage looks slim, with a continuous row of windows and a pointed nose. You will find more help telling propeller aircraft apart in the guide Telling turboprops apart.

Il-114, ATR 72, Dash 8 or Saab 340?

If you have to identify a photo of a twin turboprop, three questions help.

Where you can see the Il-114

Honestly: in the German-speaking countries, almost never. The first series flew almost exclusively in Uzbekistan and Russia, and no scheduled flights to Central Europe are known. Since February 2022, EU airspace has also been closed to Russian aircraft. So you won’t catch an Il-114-300 at the fence in Frankfurt or Vienna.

Realistic options are:

Where	What	Note
Historic photos and databases	Il-114-100 of Uzbekistan Airways, Vyborg aircraft	For your collection as research, not as your own sighting
Uzbekistan	Former aircraft of the first series	Check beforehand whether stored examples are visible; observe photography rules
Russian regional airports	Il-114-300 once in service	Travel to Russia currently comes with considerable restrictions

If you want to hunt the type anyway, the post Spotting rare aircraft is worthwhile. And if you want not only to photograph exotics but also to fly on them, you will find ideas under Flying rare aircraft types as a passenger.

Photographing propellers properly

If you do get an Il-114 in front of your lens: with turboprops, the shutter speed decides whether the propellers look frozen or show a nice rotation disc. Six blades look especially good when they blur slightly.

The details on exposure and technique are in the post Photographing propellers: the right shutter speed.

Common mix-ups and how to rule them out

Conclusion

The Il-114 is the story of an aircraft that came at the wrong time: developed as the successor to the An-24, built in a plant that suddenly lay abroad with the end of the Soviet Union, and in the end made in only about 20 examples. With the Il-114-300 it gets a second chance – as a building block of a Russian regional fleet that has to manage without Western aircraft. For spotters in Germany, Austria and Switzerland it remains an exotic that you will see almost only in photos or on far-flung trips.