The European aerospace sector, little exposed to EU sanctions against Russia

The European aerospace sector seems for the moment little affected by the sanctions of the European Union (EU) against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

European aerospace giant Airbus said it was “analyzing the impact of the sanctions announced overnight on Thursday.”

“We will comply with all applicable sanctions and laws as soon as they are in force,” the aircraft manufacturer said.

The European Council decided on Thursday to ban the export of aircraft, parts and equipment from the aerospace industry to Russia.

According to the aircraft manufacturer, there are currently some 340 Airbus aircraft in service in Russia, mainly from Aeroflot and the companies S7, Rossiya and Ural Airlines.

But Airbus only has 14 A350 aircraft on order from Aeroflot, a limited number.

Airbus, which has sold a total of 230 helicopters to 150 customers in Russia, also has an engineering center where 200 local employees work and produces components for landing gear and flight controls, in collaboration with the German company Liebherr and a Russian partner.

Safran, the engine and equipment maker, will also “apply all decisions that are made,” said CEO Olivier Andriès.

Russia represents 2% of its turnover. Safran employs less than 600 people there.

Its activities are mainly focused on supplying material for the Sukhoi Super Jet 100 regional aircraft, an aircraft that is produced at a rate of about twenty units a year, according to Olivier Andriès.

It also produces in Russia, within the Volgaero joint venture, engine components for the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320.

Titanium reserves

Thales, which operates in the civil aeronautics, digital identity and space sectors, also has marginal activity in Russia, accounting for less than 1% of its turnover, according to a spokesman.

For the aeronautical sector, the main “point of attention” with Russia concerns the supply of titanium, according to Andriès.

The world’s largest producer, VSMPO-AVisma, supplies nearly half of the titanium, a light and strong metal the industry uses for long-haul aircraft landing gear, certain engine parts and fuselage structures.

Safran says that it has increased its titanium stocks. “We have enough stocks to get through the autumn, but we will speed up alternative supply sources,” Andriès said, noting that at this stage “VSMPO has not stopped supplying”.

In the space sector, Arianespace has a joint venture with the Russian agency Roscosmos, Starsem, to operate the Soyuz rocket.

Eight Soyuz rockets are scheduled to be launched in 2022, three from Kourou, French Guiana (including the French spy satellite CSO-3) and five from the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

Arianespace said it was currently assessing whether or not the European sanctions would have an impact on its business.