Half of Russia's Airbus Fleet Now Obsolete Due To Sanctions: Russian Media

Western sanctions have dried up the supply of spare parts for Russian airlines and grounded around half of the country's Airbus fleet.

Civil aviation in Russia has been hit hard by the Western sanctions that followed Russian President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The U.S., the EU, and other countries have banned technology exports for Russia's aviation sector, while Boeing and Airbus have suspended maintenance and spare parts for the country's airlines.

The head of Russia's federal air transport agency, Rosaviatsia, Dmitry Yadrov, warned in June that passenger numbers in the country would slump because sanctions have made aircraft maintenance almost impossible.

A Ural Airlines Airbus A320 passenger plane sits after its emergency landing in the Novosibirsk region on September 12, 2023. Civil aviation in Russia has been hit hard by the Western sanctions. VLADIMIR NIKOLAYEV/Getty Images

In the latest blow to Russian aviation, business newspaper Kommersant has reported that the inability to service the planes has meant that airlines have grounded 34 out of the 66 Airbus A320/A321neo that are in the country.

The largest private airline in Russia, S7 Airlines, also known as Siberia Airlines, which is based in Novosibirsk, is the most affected, with 31 of its 39 A320/A321neo aircraft grounded. National carrier Aeroflot has two of the aircraft not flying while Ural Airlines has one, according to the paper.

Kommersant said that some planes will only be temporarily out of service until the high season, but up to 20 of the aircraft may never return to the skies. By 2026, 10 percent of foreign planes in the country could be withdrawn from service.

Newsweek has contacted Rosaviatsia and S7 Airlines for comment by email.

Yadrov had said in June that Siberian Airlines would decommission its fleet of Airbus A320neo aircraft because sanctions have made it impossible to maintain their U.S.-made Pratt & Whitney engines.

Airlines have requested permission to send parts abroad for repairs. However, Kommersant's sources said that this would not be possible because this can only be done in what Moscow deems "unfriendly" countries—those that have imposed sanctions—where engines are monitored so that they do not end up in Russia.

To combat restricted access to Western technology, Russian newspaper Izvestia reported that state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom and Aeroflot would join forces to make spare parts for Boeing and Airbus aircraft domestically.

While these will be certified by Russian aviation authorities, news outlet Politico reported that would not be the same as meeting the standards of the original manufacturers and international safety agencies.

Faced with not being able to meet air passenger demand, Russia has requested India, China and some Central Asian countries to allow their airlines to operate in Russian skies. The proposal was raised when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Kazan in southwest Russia for the BRICS summit, India's media reported.