Tu-134 Phase Out
For more than fifty years, Tu-134 aircraft had been considered reliable aircraft, demonstrating excellent technical and quality characteristics, the Tu-134 had almost ceased to be used on international routes since 2002, when noise standards for aircraft were significantly tightened in EU countries. Most had been retired because of their poor fuel economy and non-compliance with modern noise regulations outside Russia. As for Russian airlines, many of them (for example, Aeroflot-Nord, Aeroflot-Don, UTAir, Yamal, etc.) continue to actively operate the Tu-134.
On 01 January 2008 Russia's flagship air carrier Aeroflot said it had completed the operation of Tu-134 aircraft. The Aeroflot board approved February 15, 2007 a program to gradually replace the airline's Tu-134 planes with modern aircraft. The last flight by a Tu-134 aircraft was performed on 31 December 2007 from Russia's western exclave of Kaliningrad to Moscow, Aeroflot said. All 14 Tu-134 planes in the Aeroflot fleet will be replaced by new-generation aircraft, especially the promising Russian SuperJet-100 short-range plane, which has been developed by the Sukhoi design bureau and whose delivery is expected to begin in late 2008, and medium-range A319 and A320 airbuses, the Russian air carrier said. Some of these 14 airplanes currently owned by the Aeroflot will be offered for purchase to its subsidiaries, "Aeroflot-Don", "Aeroflot-Nord" and "Aeroflot-PLUS".
On 20 January 2017 Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu directed a to study the possibility of replacing used in military passenger aircraft Tu-154, Tu-134 and Il-62M in the new Russian analogues. The Ministry of Defense and enterprises of the United Aircraft Corporation were to agree on a "road map": determine which aircraft will be the first out of service, and to build a production schedule for the uniform loading of plants. To replace the Tu-134 the short-haul SSJ 100 can be used, and instead of the Il-62 and Tu-154 a long-range Tu-214 could be used. At the same time, according to sources, the minister instructed the Defense Ministry to upgrade the fleet, though without additional funds. The exact timing of execution of the order was not specified in the mandate.
On 22 May 2019, the last passenger Tu-134 operated in Russia flew to the eternal parking lot - to the Museum of Aviation History of the Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport.
In the fleet of Aeroflot, the Tu-134 was replaced by the Airbus A320 and Superjets. In the early 1980s, work began on the design of the Tu-334 aircraft. This aircraft was considered as a replacement for the Tu-134 on regional lines - these two aircraft were comparable in passenger capacity (about 80 and about 100 people). The development of the Tu-334 aircraft was carried out by Tupolev in accordance with the presidential program Development of Civil Aviation Engineering of Russia until 2000 at the expense of the budget. According to the report of the Accounts Chamber, about $ 100 million was spent on this. The aircraft was certified in 2003. But the federal target program“ Development of Civil Aviation Engineering of Russia for the years 2002-2010 and for the period up to 2015” did not fund the Tupolev project, which was seen as a competitor to the Sukhoi Superjet.
In the spring of 2018, the president of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, Alexander Rubtsov, said that his company plans to begin supplying Sukhoi Superjet 100 airliners to replace the Tu-134 belonging to the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Emergencies.
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