Airlines in Russia can no longer obtain spare parts for their aircraft from Western manufacturers. The country's largest private airline is therefore now taking parts of its Airbus fleet out of service.
The largest private Russian airline, S7, has to ground parts of its Airbus fleet. This was announced by the Russian aviation authority Rosaviazia. The aircraft affected are A320 Neo aircraft, which make up a third of the S7 fleet. Due to the Western sanctions, spare parts can no longer be obtained and maintenance can no longer be carried out for them, it said.
Possible cancellations in the flight schedule
It is not yet known how S7 will react to the shutdown. There may be cancellations in the flight schedule. The loss of aircraft from Western production cannot be compensated for so quickly. The S7 fleet currently only consists of aircraft from the manufacturers Airbus, Boeing and Embraer.
The state-owned airline Aeroflot also relies exclusively on Boeing and Airbus aircraft. Only its subsidiary Rossiya has 78 domestically produced Sukhoi Superjet aircraft in operation. The aircraft is also built using components from Western manufacturers.
Aeroflot relies on Russian aircraft
Aeroflot plans to switch to Russian aircraft in the medium term. Over 300 domestically produced aircraft have already been ordered – in addition to the regional aircraft Sukhoi Superjet, these include the medium-haul aircraft TU 214 from Tupolev.
But the construction of Russian aircraft has also come to a standstill because of the sanctions. Last year, only six of the planned 19 Sukhoi Superjets were completed. Other Russian manufacturers are also experiencing massive delays in deliveries. Aeroflot will therefore lose one million passengers this year and another four million in 2025, said the airline's managing director, Sergei Alexandrovsky.
