Rossiya special aircraft division took delivery of a new Tu-214SR relay aircraft powered by PS-90A engines. The aircraft manufactured by Kazan Aviation Plant named after S.P. Gorbunov, performed ferry flight to its home base at Vnukovo airport, press-service of Aviadvigatel reports.

« Rossiya special aircraft division is responsible for transportation of President of Russia, Chairman of Russian Government, senior officials of the Federation Council, State Duma and Constitutional Court, Chief of the Presidential Administration, Minister of Foreign Affairs and other officials. Tu-214SR relay aircraft is intended for provision of communication between the country’s top officials anywhere in the world,» said in the enterprise’s statement.

The special aircraft division started operating aircraft powered by PS-90A engines 20 years ago. Today the division operates 21 jets powered by PS-90A engines: 11 Tu-214s (4 Tu-214s; 3 Tu-214SRs; 2 Tu-214PU flying command posts; 2 Tu-214SUS airborne communication centers), 8 Il-96-300 and 2 Tu-204-300A jets.

The head of Rossiya special aircraft division Vitaly Mitrokhin said: «Following the results of our long-standing partnership with Aviadvigatel we are convinced that specialists of the Perm-based design bureau are keeping up with the times and constantly improving their products. Over the last 20 years the reliability of PS-90A engines increased and the engine became easier to operate. We highly appreciate the philosophy of the engine’s design, level of technical solutions used and its working principles. It should be noted that Il and Tu aircraft manufactured in Russia are as good as their foreign analogues and outmatch them in terms of some technical characteristics. First of all this refers to reliability and ease of operation in Russian and foreign airports».

The special aircraft division has been operating aircraft powered by engines designed and manufactured in Perm for more than 70 years: intercontinental aircraft Il-62M, the most reliable in the history of the national aviation short-haul Tu-134 airliner, the most popular in 1980s Tu-154M aircraft, state-of-the-art medium- and long-haul Tu-204/214 and Il-96 jets.