Russia begins dismantling aircraft parts

Russian airlines, including state-owned Aeroflot, are dismantling planes to secure spare parts they cannot buy abroad due to sanctions imposed by the West, Reuters reported, citing four industry sources.

The companies are tracking indications Moscow provided in June to turn to some of the planes to get the parts needed to keep the rest of the fleet afloat until at least 2025.

A source told Reuters that at least one Sukhoi Superjet 100 and one Airbus A350 Aeroflot was being dismantled, with the Airbus becoming “almost new”.

But the state-owned company will also remove parts from some Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 planes to keep other planes of the same models in flight.

Nearly 80% of Aeroflot’s fleet are from the two largest aerospace companies – 134 aircraft from Boeing and 146 from Airbus – while about 80 Russian-made Sukhoi Superjet-100s use many parts made abroad, according to the latest data, notice. Reuters.

Moscow will also struggle to buy parts from countries that did not impose sanctions on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. A source told the news agency that Asian and Middle Eastern airlines feared “secondary sanctions” from the West if they were supplied with equipment.