The second Il-96-400T began performing commercial flights

Sky Gates has commissioned its second aircraft Il-96-400T. It began to perform commercial flights. Now, prompt delivery of important cargo to remote regions is not a problem.


Sky Gates is a division of Red Wings, and therefore belongs to the latter. The company was created specifically for commercial cargo transportation.

Sky Gates' transport fleet consists only of Russian cargo planes. There aren't many of them yet, but they are planning a global expansion, including domestic airliners. The only problem is that there is nowhere to buy them, so all we can do is wait.


The first commercial flights proved that the Il-96-400T is ideal for fast cargo delivery. For example, it got from Moscow to Yakutsk in just 7 hours.

All the Il-96-400T systems work perfectly. No emergencies were recorded during the flights. There were not even minor breakdowns. And the transport airliner flew not only to Yakutsk. From there it went to Dubai, spending 10 hours on it, after which it returned to Moscow.

The press service of the "parent" company Red Wings also told what exactly the Il-96-400T was transporting. On board the cargo airliner were various goods, including food products and parcels from marketplaces.

As for the Il-96-400T, it is a globally modernized version of the Il-96-400. The main feature of the project is not only the modification, but also the complete restoration of the airliners. In essence, a new aircraft was made from an old one.


There are already two such Il-96-400Ts. Both of them are on the balance sheet of Sky Gates, along with one Il-76. The new airliners are capable of transporting up to 92 tons over a distance of up to 5 thousand kilometers without landing. If the amount of cargo is halved, then the flight range will increase by about the same amount.

The second Il-96-400T was handed over to Sky Gates not so long ago – on March 27. It was sent on its first commercial flight literally a few days ago – on April 12. Since everything went well, the company began developing regular flights for the airliner. For now, it is planned that the RA-96103 will fly to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Anadyr and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

As for the "parent" brand Red Wings, it is rightfully included in the TOP of the largest Russian airlines. The company's special features are the use of domestic aircraft. For example, the SJ-100 makes up the bulk of the passenger fleet. Therefore, the Red Wings management closely monitors the development of Russian aircraft manufacturing.