Aviation News – June 2018

the normal Il-62M. The standard Il-62MK

configuration comprised 186 or 195 seats,

while the Il-62M operated by Aeroflot offered

174 seats in a single-class configuration or

132 in a two-class layout.

The Il-62M gained a reputation as a

reliable aircraft, popular with both crews

and passengers, with a dispatch reliability

of 97%. This led to the list of the export

customers for the airliner to increase

and included Cuba’s Cubana, LAM of

Mozambique, TAAG of Angola and Air Koryo

of North Korea.

AIR FORCE ONE, SOVIET-

STYLE

Modified Il-62s also made excellent

government or heads-of-state transport

aircraft. The so-called Salon version had

a VIP cabin in the first half of the fuselage

together with a meeting room, while the

rear half retained the standard six-abreast

seating configuration. It also received an

enhanced long-range communications

suite to serve the head of state’s needs.

One aircraft was produced in the Salon

version and was handed over to Aeroflot’s

235th Special Aviation Unit, tasked with

government transport.

Two more VIP variants were developed

from the Il-62M. The first of these, known as

the Il-62M TM-3SUR, was equipped with the

Surgut-T communication suite with satcom

capability enabling global connectivity.

Developed in 1976, this sub-model can

be distinguished by the large fairing on

the upper fuselage that hosts the satellite

communication antennas. The second

is the Il-62M Salon and features a VIP-

outfitted cabin. Such aircraft were delivered

for head-of-state transport to North Korea,

Czechoslovakia, Poland and East Germany.

The Il-62M was also the standard USSR

head-of-state transport, used for high-profile

visits abroad until the second half of the

1990s.

AFTER THE USSR

Production of the Il-62M went on for a

surprisingly long time. The type was

officially discontinued in late 1992, but the

Kazan plant, which became known as Kazan

Aviation Production Enterprise (KAPE),

had 12 incomplete airframes cancelled by

customers after the Soviet Union break-up in

1991, which were then offered for sale. The

completion work kept the factory busy until

2004.

The last, c/n 2357711, paid for by the

Presidency of the Russian Republic of

Tatarstan, was donated in 2004 to the

Sudanese Government, flying under the

registration ST-PRA.

40 Aviation News incorporating Jets June 2018

An Il-62M Salon built in 1996, this example was operated by Russia’s paramilitary Ministry of Emergency Situations as a flagship of its fleet,

capable of being used as a command post in disaster-affected areas in addition to its general passenger and cargo transport roles. Andrey

Zinchuk via Alexander Mladenov

Uzbekistan Government Il-62 UK86579 at Manchester on September 1, 1997. AirTeamImages.com/Keith Blincow

Air Koryo Ilyushin Il-62M P-885 on the ramp at Samjiyon, North Korea, in 2015. AirTeamImages.com/Felix Gottwald

36-41_jetliners_il-62DC.mfDC.mfDC.mf.indd 40 03/05/2018 15:48