The designers of the Ilyushin Il-114 airliner should take into account the need for its use on unprepared airfields, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said at a meeting dedicated to the development of civil aviation on Thursday.

"As for Il-114, I ask you to keep in mind the possibility of using this aircraft un unprepared airfields, that is, actually, to take off from natural ground airfields and land on natural ground airfields, and in the Arctic modification - the ski landing gear," he said. "In that case, we will be able to expand the range of application for this aircraft, which be highly sought after in terms of linking our country’s territorial entities with each other."

Rogozin noted that currently many Russians can fly from one city to another within the Far Eastern and the Siberian Federal Districts only via Moscow, which is unacceptable.

The Ilyushin Il-114 is a Russian twin-engine turboprop airliner designed for local routes.