Ilyushin Design Bureau (Zhukovsky) could resume the production of its Il-114 turboprops should Moscow move ahead with plans to set up a domestic carrier whose fleet consists only of locally made aircraft. Unconfirmed rumours in the Russian media had claimed Vladimir Putin's government was considering establishing a new domestic airline to replace the still-born Aeroflot (SU, Moscow Sheremetyevo) subsidiary, Dobrolet (Moscow Sheremetyevo), which was forced to suspend operations in late July after it was hit by European Union sanctions.

"On the agenda is also the issue of establishing an airline to ensure a regular air lift to Simferopol, Crimea using Russian aircraft fleet," Russia's deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Rogozin, said via Twitter. "Today in the Govt we're discussing the possibility of expanding the production of Russian regional planes, in particular IL-114."

According to Bloomberg, last week, Putin ordered a study into the resumption of the plane’s production at the Aviacor plant in Samara Bezymyanka. Results of the assessment are due next month.

Launched in 1990 as a replacement for the An-24, production of the Il-114 was suspended in July 2012 after only twenty were built.

Russia has been hit hard by US and European sponsored sanctions imposed since Moscow's unilateral decision to annex the Crimea from Ukraine in March this year. Tensions were further heightened when a Russian built Surface to Air Missile was suspected of downing Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur International) flight MH17 resulting in the death of all 298 souls on board.

Ukraine accuses Russia of trying to destabilize the country's troubled eastern provinces through covert support for Pro-Russian separatists.

Moscow and Kiev have imposed a series of tit-for-tat punitive measures. In retaliation for Russia's decision to ban Ukraine International Airlines (PS, Kyiv Boryspil), YanAir (YE, Kyiv Igor Sikorsky), Wizz Air Ukraine (Kyiv Igor Sikorsky), and Dniproavia (Dnipro) from transiting its airspace on flights to Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, Ukraine has now forced Aeroflot and Transaero Airlines (Moscow Vnukovo) to seek permission for each flight over Ukrainian airspace.