ICAO T144

Tupolev Tu-144

Tupolev

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Soviet supersonic airliner, the world's first to fly.

First flight

1968

Category

Narrow-body jet

Seating

140 passengers

Range

6,500 km

Engines

Four Kuznetsov NK-144 (or Kolesov RD-36-51) afterburning turbofans

Status

Retired

The Tupolev Tu-144 was a supersonic passenger aircraft developed by the Soviet Union, becoming the first commercial supersonic transport to fly when it took to the air in December 1968, slightly ahead of the Anglo-French Concorde. Designed to demonstrate Soviet technological capability, it entered limited passenger service with Aeroflot in 1977, primarily on routes between Moscow and Alma-Ata. The Tu-144 was plagued by technical difficulties, high noise levels, and poor fuel efficiency. A fatal crash at the 1973 Paris Air Show and another accident in 1978 contributed to its early retirement from passenger service. The aircraft was briefly revived in the 1990s as a high-speed research platform in collaboration with NASA and Tupolev. Only 16 Tu-144s were built in total, including prototypes and pre-production aircraft. The type is now retired and several airframes are preserved in museums across Russia.

Notable operators

Aeroflot was the only commercial operator of the Tu-144, flying limited passenger and cargo routes from 1975 to 1978.

Notable facts

›First supersonic transport aircraft to fly, on 31 December 1968.
›A Tu-144 crashed dramatically at the 1973 Paris Air Show, killing all 6 crew and 8 people on the ground.
›Passenger service lasted fewer than 7 months before being suspended after a second fatal accident in 1978.
›The Tu-144LL variant was used as a high-speed flying laboratory by NASA and Tupolev in the 1990s.
›Nicknamed 'Concordski' in the Western press due to its visual similarity to the Concorde.