IATA YK2ICAO YK42

Yakovlev Yak-42

Yakovlev

TravelerPulse profile

Soviet short-haul trijet serving domestic routes for decades.

First flight

1975

Category

Narrow-body jet

Seating

120–168 passengers

Range

1,900–4,000 km

Engines

Three Lotarev D-36 high-bypass turbofan engines, rear-mounted

Status

In service (limited)

The Yakovlev Yak-42 is a Soviet-designed short-to-medium-range narrow-body jet airliner developed in the 1970s. It features a rear-mounted trijet configuration and was intended to replace older Tupolev aircraft on domestic Soviet routes. The aircraft entered service with Aeroflot in 1980. The Yak-42 was produced in several variants, including the stretched Yak-42D with increased fuel capacity and range. It became a workhorse of Soviet and later Russian and Eastern European regional aviation, capable of operating from shorter or less-prepared airstrips. Production ended in the 1990s, and the type has seen declining use since the collapse of the Soviet Union. A number of aircraft remain in limited service with smaller carriers, though the fleet has aged considerably and many examples have been retired or written off.

Notable operators

Aeroflot was the primary historical operator; later operators include Saratov Airlines, Cubana, and various smaller Eastern European and CIS carriers.

Notable facts

›First flew on 7 March 1975; entered Aeroflot service in 1980.
›The Yak-42D variant introduced additional fuel tanks for extended range.
›Uses a T-tail configuration with all three engines mounted at the rear fuselage.
›Approximately 183 aircraft were built before production ceased.
›A Yak-42 crash in 2011 near Yaroslavl, Russia killed a Kontinental Hockey League team.