Russia faces aviation crisis as sanctions ground Western-made planes
Russia plans to withdraw Western-made passenger planes from use due to a lack of parts and factory service, leaving the planes in worsening condition. The problem is that there is nothing to replace them with, and domestic production of passenger planes is a drop in the ocean compared to the demand.
Sanctions have severely affected Russian air transport. Although most planes still fly, essential parts and factory service are lacking. As a result, reliability is declining, the risk of operation is increasing, and if poorly serviced planes continue to fly, the number of air disasters will rise over time.
This is why Russia intends to quickly withdraw Western-made passenger planes, mainly Boeing and Airbus, from use. The problem is that it needs about 550 new planes to replace them, while the Russian industry delivers an average of two per year.
The situation worsens further because, according to the Ukrainian service Defense Express, Western-made planes make up 65% of Russia's passenger plane fleet but account for up to 95% of all flights.
To keep Western planes in continuous operation, Russia is changing regulations regarding plane inspection and servicing and trying to obtain parts through third countries such as Turkey or the United Arab Emirates.
At the same time, despite statements by Russian politicians about replacing Western planes with Russian equivalents, the industry cannot deliver adequate planes.
Although theoretically, Russia can produce several types of passenger planes, such as the MS-21, Superjet, Tu-214, Il-114, and Il-96, in practice, the production of newer models is being delayed, and older ones, such as the Il-96, are produced in single units annually.
