Stocks of road and aviation equipment in Russia will be enough for another three to four years. This was stated by President Vladimir Putin's special representative for environmental protection, ecology and transport Sergei Ivanov, referring to the words of Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, he is quoted by RBC.
“It was correctly mentioned by [Khusnullin] that we will live on old stocks for three or four years: road equipment, aviation equipment, and other means of transport engineering. But already now we need to think about what will happen in three or four years.
Earlier, Khusnullin said that there were problems with road construction equipment in Russia: “We’ll drive through in another year or two, maybe three, and then we have to think what to do with the equipment we are working on today.”
Small airlines that fly to hard-to-reach places have recognized problems with the operation of old Soviet aircraft (An-24, An-26), as well as foreign-made aircraft (L410, ATR). As Andrei Yegorov, CEO of KrasAvia, said in an issue about Russian aviation on the Editorial YouTube channel, those aircraft that are now “quite tired”, but not one of them is taken out of airworthiness ahead of schedule. He suggested that the planes would last for about five more years, and acknowledged the problems, including a lack of components:
“We continued to support them, as we felt that they would be in demand again. Today there is another problem: with the maintenance of these aircraft, there are also more and more problems every year, since many components have not been produced for a long time, and the turnover of the repair fund is becoming narrower for these aircraft. Repair plants, both aggregate and in general for the airframe and engines, are becoming less and less. Therefore, this is a story that cannot go on forever, but I think that on average, these aircraft will serve us for another five years.”
After the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the world's largest aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus suspended the supply of spare parts, as well as stopped providing maintenance and support for Russian airlines. They were joined by Raytheon Technologies, which includes Collins Aerospace. Boeing has also suspended pilot training in Russia. Engine manufacturer CFM International has notified Russian airlines of the suspension of all deliveries of aircraft parts to Russia. Russian airlines use about 800 CFM56 engines. They are equipped with the most popular Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft.
On March 3, the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer announced a similar decision. And the American company Jeppesen notified the Russian Pobeda that it was stopping the transfer of aeronautical information to it. At the end of May, the Chinese authorities banned the flights of Russian Boeing aircraft, making an exception only for transit flights. First of all, the cargo airline Aviastar-TU suffered from this ban. It is the main partner of the AliExpress marketplace, popular in the Russian Federation, as well as the Russian Post.
Chinese authorities are demanding that planes not have "dual registration", which "does not comply with the requirements of the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization)". Aviastar-TU operates six Boeing 757s. Five of them are registered in Russia, although they were registered in Bermuda in early March. The re-registration of aircraft in Russia began after the owners of the airliners began to revoke permits for their use in leasing by Russian airlines.
In early March, the Federal Air Transport Agency recommended that Russian airlines suspend all international flights due to fears of mass arrests of aircraft abroad. The threat of stopping flights also loomed over the Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100, which, under sanctions, could replace foreign-made airliners. Russian airlines cannot repair and maintain Russian-French SaM146 engines that are installed on Superjet. This is due to the imposition of EU sanctions.
