Vladimir Putin said civilian aircraft makers only planned to build 15 airplanes this year, compared with six the year before, which he said was nowhere near enough for such a large country as Russia.
"Such modest production levels will not make a blip on the radar screen - not only on the international market, but even on our domestic market," he said.
He said Russia needs a modern production, maintenance and service base.
It was with a view to launching production of competitive airplanes that the United Aircraft Building Corporation was created two years ago, he said, adding that it had yet to start working effectively.
UABC consolidates private and state assets manufacturing, designing and selling military, civilian, transport and unmanned aircraft. It plans to produce the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ) medium-haul passenger airliner soon.
It was set the goal of gaining control of 15% of the world civilian aircraft market by 2015.
Putin said efforts had to be redoubled to start producing competitive airliners, and speed up the delivery of aircraft to customers.
"Neither domestic nor foreign carriers will wait for new Russian aircraft forever. Figuratively speaking, the Russian aircraft industry has a very short runway," he said.
The prime minister said Russia could scrap import duties on foreign-made aircraft if domestic plane makers are unable to speed up aircraft production.
"We are lagging behind with production," Putin said. "Considering the demands of our air carriers we do not rule out waiving duties."
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