Variant
Yak-42D
Yak-42D is the representative branch of the Yakovlev Yak-42 family, capturing the longer-range branch most closely tied to the family’s lasting service.
Range 2,200 nm · Entry 1981
YakovlevAirlinerRetired
Yakovlev Yak-42 family
The Yak-42 story, from first flight to lasting reputation
The Soviet trijet intended to replace earlier short-haul types with better field performance and more modern systems.
Yakovlev Yak-42 family is a retired airliner by Yakovlev, first flown in 1975 and introduced in 1980. This canonical Airchive page keeps the family history, specs, variants, operators, and related archive discussion at a single permanent URL.
First flight
1975
Service entry
1980
Seating band
96 to 120
Yakovlev Yak-42 family is a retired airliner by Yakovlev, first flown in 1975 and introduced in 1980, with typical seating for 96 to 120 and range up to 1,350 nautical miles.
The family page acts as the primary unit of record so airline deployment, cabin experience, production history, and representative variants remain legible instead of fragmenting into model-number sprawl.
Range band
1,350 nm
Notable operators
Aeroflot · Saratov Airlines · KrasAir
Source stack
- Manufacturer heritage material
- type certificate and planning data
- museum and preservation references
Variants
Representative variants
Specifications
Current public facts
- Manufacturer
- Yakovlev
- Program history
- Class
- Airliner
- Airchive taxonomy
- First flight
- 1975-03-07
- Program history
- Service entry
- 1980-12-22
- Operator records
- Current status
- Retired
- Fleet reality
- Typical seating
- 96 to 120
- Operator and cabin references
- Range band
- Up to 1,350 nm
- Program literature
- Cruise speed
- 430 kt
- Planning data
Archive moments
Human context
The Yak-42 survives in memory as a durable late-Soviet workhorse, visually tied to the trijet era but used on the kind of routes where practicality mattered more than glamour.
Passenger memory matters here because airport routine, cabin atmosphere, and route geography are part of the aircraft story rather than side notes.
Timeline
Program milestones
- 1975
First flight
The Yak-42 begins flight testing and establishes the public shape of the family.
- 1980
Service entry
The family enters passenger or executive service and begins building its operating footprint.
- Today
Current role
The family remains active in service and still shapes fleet, mission, or archive discussions.
Related news
Editorial context
No editorial dispatches are attached to this family yet. The aircraft record is live, and newsroom or archive coverage can be layered onto it later without changing the URL.
Forum threads
Community memory
Live forumYak-42
Yak-42 lounge: operators, cabins, routes, and memories
Use this as the standing thread for Yakovlev Yak-42 family operator history, route logic, cabin details, and first-hand memory.
Live forumYak-42
Yak-42 historic operators and preservation
Best memories, route eras, preserved examples, and documentation leads for the Yakovlev Yak-42 family.