Tu-154
ICAO T154The Soviet trijet that carried a generation, now down to a handful of state aircraft. Live Tu-154 positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30s
No Tu-154 is transmitting ADS-B at the moment.
Military aircraft are not obliged to broadcast, so this happens regularly. The count refreshes every thirty seconds.
Airframe
- Manufacturer
- Tupolev
- Role
- Government and military transport
- Class
- L3J — Landplane, 3 jet engines
- Crew
- 3 to 4
- First flight
- 4 October 1968
- In service
- 1972
Operators airborne
Nothing of this type is up right now.
About the Tu-154
The Tu-154 was the backbone of Soviet air travel — over 900 built, and for decades the aircraft most people in the eastern bloc flew on. Three rear-mounted engines, a swept wing and an undercarriage designed for rough, unpaved runways.
Commercial operation has almost entirely ended, on grounds of fuel burn and noise. What remains is government and military: the Russian defence ministry has flown a small number for staff transport, and the type has been used for Open Skies observation flights.
Very few are airworthy, so this page will normally be empty.
Callsign prefixes
- RFF
- Russian Federation Air Force
- RSD
- Rossiya Special Flight Detachment
How to recognise it
- —Three rear-mounted engines, with the centre one fed by an S-duct from an intake at the fin root.
- —A T-tail and a strongly swept wing with prominent flap track fairings.
- —Superficially similar to a Boeing 727, but larger with a longer, more slender fuselage.
Common questions
+ Is the Tu-154 still flying?
Barely. Commercial operation has effectively ended and only a handful of state and military aircraft remain airworthy, mostly Russian.
+ Why does it look like a Boeing 727?
Both are three-engine airliners of the same era solving the same problem, so they arrived at a similar layout. The Tu-154 is larger, with a more swept wing and a rough-field undercarriage the 727 lacks.
+ What was it used for by the military?
Staff and troop transport, and in some cases Open Skies treaty observation flights. Russia's defence ministry operated a small fleet.