Manufacturer trials have been completed on the Ilyushin Il-96-300 wide body airliner registration number RA96019. Final checks were performed on 16 April during the concluding flight-test mission that lasted six hours. The airplane made this flight from the airfield of the Voronezh aircraft plant (VASO). Delivery to the customer is due later this month.

The aircraft RA96019 will boost the Il-96-300 fleet of the Presidential Air Detachment (serving President of Russia and members of the Russian government) to four aircraft. The Air Detachment already operates aircraft RA96012, RA96016 and RA96018. Following the delivery of a forth wide body Ilyushin jetliner, the Air Detachment will be able to maintain full-scale operation with same-type aircraft, allowing complete withdrawal of the outdated Il-62s.

The order for a batch of Il-96-300s was placed by the State Transport Company "Russia" within whose structure the Presidential Air Detachment was operating until earlier this year. This order was instrumental in helping VASO, the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners in Russia, to maintain production of this type of aircraft. The plant in Voronezh has been visited by Russia's top leaders a number of times. President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and Chairman of the Russian government Vladimir Putin pay great personal attention to situation in the national aviation industry and VASO in particular.

Delivery of every new Il-96 is a prominent event for the Russian aviation industry and the whole of the country. By maintaining production of this type, Russia keeps its competences in the sphere of wide body passenger airliners and remains one of the world's three manufacturers of the large commercial aircraft together with the United States of America and European Union.