The steps are in line with the Russian government’s advice in June to airlines to use some aircraft for spare parts to ensure the remaining foreign-made planes can continue to fly at least until 2025. Sanctions imposed on Russia after it sent troops into Ukraine in late February have prevented its airlines from getting spare parts or undergoing maintenance in the West. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Aviation experts said Russian airlines are likely to start taking parts from their planes to keep them airworthy, but these are the first detailed examples. At least one Russian-made Sukhoi Superjet 100 and one Airbus A350, both operated by Aeroflot, are currently grounded and being dismantled, a source familiar with the matter said. The source declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. The Airbus A350 is almost brand new, the source said. Most of the Russian aircraft fleet consists of Western passenger aircraft. The equipment was taken from some Aeroflot Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s, as the carrier needs more spare parts from those models for its other Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s, the source said. The Russian Transport Ministry and Aeroflot did not respond to requests for comment.
‘A MATTER OF TIME’
Russian-assembled Sukhoi Superjets are also heavily dependent on foreign parts. One engine has already been removed from one Superjet to allow another Superjet to continue flying, the first source said. To be sure, engines are often swapped between aircraft and are usually supplied under separate contracts, industry experts said. They are not considered part of the core of the aircraft. It is “a matter of time” before Russian-based planes are cannibalised, a Western airline industry source said. The newest generations of jet aircraft – the A320neo, A350 and Boeing 737 MAX and 787 – have technology that needs to be constantly updated. Within a year of the sanctions taking effect, it will be a “challenge” to keep modern jets in service even for Russia’s highly developed and capable engineering base, Western sources said. read more The practice of removing parts to keep another plane flying is commonly known as turning disused planes into “Christmas trees.” Although relatively rare, it is most often associated with financial difficulties and has never occurred on the same scale as the extensive restructuring envisaged in Russia to deal with the effects of sanctions. The jets may be put back into service, provided the removed parts are returned, although this would not necessarily restore the traceability needed for the jets to re-enter global markets. Many components have a limited life that must be recorded. Almost 80% of Aeroflot’s fleet is made up of Boeings ( BA.N ) and Airbuses ( AIR.PA ) — it has 134 Boeings and 146 Airbuses, along with nearly 80 Russian-made Sukhoi Superjet-100 aircraft at the end of last year, based the most recent data available. According to Reuters calculations based on Flightradar24 data, around 50 Aeroflot planes – or 15% of its fleet, including jets blocked due to sanctions – have not taken off since late July. Three of the seven Airbus A350s used by Aeroflot, including one now being used for spare parts, have not taken off for about three months, according to Flightradar24 data. Russian carriers flying fewer routes because of Western sanctions means there are unused aircraft that can be stripped, a second industry source said. “Western manufacturers understand that almost all Superjets operate in Russia,” said Oleg Panteleev, head of aviation think tank Aviaport. “You can just stop making and shipping parts – and you’re going to hurt.”
EXAMINATION
The plan for the development of the Russian aviation industry until 2030 estimated that Russia could face the biggest challenges with the A350 and Bombardier Q series as their maintenance is carried out abroad. The Russian government’s advice calls for a “partial decommissioning of some parts of the aircraft fleet,” which would keep two-thirds of the foreign fleet operational until the end of 2025. The main challenge will be keeping the engines and sophisticated electronic equipment in working order, Panteleev said. “It will be difficult to repair them,” he said. Aeroflot, once among the world’s top airlines but now reliant on state support, saw traffic fall 22 percent in the second quarter of this year from a year earlier, company data showed, after sanctions prevented it from fly to most western destinations. Securing supplies from countries that have not imposed sanctions on Russia is unlikely to help, as companies from Asia and the Middle East fear the risk of secondary sanctions against them from Western governments, the sources said. “Each individual part has its own (unique) number and if the documents have a Russian airline as the final buyer, then no one would agree to supply, not China or Dubai,” the first source said, adding that all parts must be notified to Boeing and Airbus before they are delivered to the end user. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report from Reuters. Edited by Josephine Mason, Matt Scuffham and Jane Merriman Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
