MOSCOW - Russia’s aviation industry has defied predictions it would slowly grind to a halt after western sanctions barred access to vital spare parts and maintenance expertise, Sylvia Pfeifer reports for the Financial Times. Continue reading original article.
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
LONDON -The Financial Times reports that Russia's domestic flight levels have returned to near pre-COVID levels. Despite sanctions, some nations remain open to Russian airlines and travelers, including China.
While that's good news to Russian citizens looking to travel, the Western aerospace industry is largely not doing business with Russia's, which raises concerns for the majority of the country's domestic commercial aircraft. Approximately 70% of commercial craft are made by Boeing and Airbus. Engine makers, including Rolls-Royce, have also pulled support.
“We think the Russians have a reasonable pedigree in maintaining aircraft but their problem is going to grow and grow over time,” an executive at one western lessor told the Times.
Guillaume Faury, chief executive of Airbus, told reporters last month: “We are worried about the conditions for maintenance as actually the planes are flying a lot. Because of the sanctions, we cannot really monitor and support as we do with our customers in normal times. And that’s something that is indeed creating some concerns on the safety side.”
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Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace
