Announced at the 1971 Paris Airshow, the Il-86 was designed as a medium range widebody airliner. The first wide-body commercial aircraft built in the Sovjet Union, the Il-86 comparable in size to the three-engined McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011 in the U.S. and the Airbus A300 twinjet in Western Europe. Due to the lack of high by-pass ratio engines like those used on the above-mentioned aircraft, Ilyushin choose a four-engined layout for the Il-86. The rather high fuel consumption of the Il-86 paired with the limited range and performance limited the type's commercial success. Airline service with Aeroflot began in December 1980.

A unique feature of the Il-86 is that passengers can board the aircraft via airstairs leading to a lower deck baggage stowage area, before climbing a fixed internal staircase to the main passenger cabin.

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