Delivered to Aeroflot as CCCP-46761 in 1964. Withdrawn from use in 1964 and preserved at the Ulyanovsk Aircraft Museum.

Registered in 1971, cancelled in 1984 and preserved at the Museum of Civil Aviation, Ulyanovsk.

Unique passenger aircraft among the 32 in the Ulyanovsk museum. The Tu-116, like the Tu-114, was based on the Tu-95 bomber, its mission being to transport the head of state along with his security staff and entourage. Development of the Tu-116 parallel to the Tu-116 airliner was justified by Khrushchev's visit to the United States, at which time the Tu-114 might not have been ready. Two Tu-116s were completed, neither actually being used to carry the president but instead to ferry Tu-95 maintenance crews