The Rossiya special aviation group responsible for transporting the country’s top leadership will shortly receive new domestic planes and helicopters, Rossiya CEO Konstantin Tereshchenko told TASS on Wednesday.

"We are waiting for our aircraft pool to be replenished with two new Il-96-300 special-designation airliners and three Tu-214 passenger versions. We are also waiting for the arrival of two new Mi-38 helicopters," the chief executive said.

The program of the delivery of new aircraft to the presidential aviation group has been shaped for the period until 2030, he added.

No special requirements are set for the airliners of the presidential aviation group, Tereshchenko said.

"There are general requirements for all civil aviation. These are normal serial-produced aircraft but with some additions," he explained.

"The main requirement for the personnel and aircraft of the special aviation group is that everything must operate. Even if one seat does not recline, we frequently change the airliner and do not send it on a flight," the aviation group head said.

"Regarding all the other airlines, they have so-called deferred faults when an airliner can be cleared for a flight with permissible malfunctions that do not affect flight safety. This is not the case in our aviation group and absolutely everything must operate well," Tereshchenko stressed.

Another mandatory rule is to provide maintenance for the aircraft, using the aviation group’s own staff. For this purpose, the aviation group has a staff of technicians, he explained.

"We must work like a submarine in its full autonomous mode to ensure that no other persons can touch our aircraft," the chief executive said.