Neither spare parts nor maintenance – a big blow to Russian aviation

There will no longer be spare parts and maintenance services for Russian civil aircraft: the suspension of Boeing and Airbus activities in Russia is a huge blow to their airlines, whose safety will be compromised in the future.

European, Canadian and US airspaces closed to Russian planes, European sanctions and severed relations by the two main aircraft builders: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may cost Russian commercial aviation dearly, experts say.

Boeing announced on Tuesday that it was suspending “parts, maintenance and technical support services for Russian airlines” as well as its “major operations” in Moscow.

On its side, “in accordance with the international sanctions in force, Airbus suspended assistance services to Russian airlines, as well as the supply of spare parts,” said the European company.

The aircraft of both companies constitute the majority of the Russian commercial fleet. Of a thousand aircraft in service in that country, about 370 are Boeing and 340 Airbus.

And Russia risks having a part of its planes removed: three quarters belong not to Russian airlines, but are leased, according to the database of the specialized publication Aviation Week.

The perimeter of the sanctions “makes it possible for all aircraft owned by the European Union (EU) to return them to the EU,” said a European official. He added that he is “in contact with a number of leasing companies in Ireland”, where many of them are based.

Regarding maintenance, “the immediate impact is weak, but strong in the medium term”, considers Bernard Vilmer, an aeronautical expert at the Icare cabinet.

Each piece of aircraft has a traceability system designed to guarantee the international certification of the aircraft. “That drastic protocol makes it easy to get to very low accident rates,” he said.

“From the moment you step outside of the normal supply path and maintenance traceability, you can enter a hellish spiral that will lead to accidents. This is what happens in Iran”, according to him.

“Cannibalization”

Affected by the embargo, Iran “cannibalized” the devices to recover spare parts and then the accidents increased. Everything will depend on the tolerance that the Russian air regulator gives the companies.

“The authorities can make decisions to favor air traffic” to the detriment of safety, fears an air safety expert who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Russia, which spans 11 time zones, is heavily dependent on air links to service its vast territory.

“States are free to impose their own criteria” of navigability, such as extending the number of flight hours between two mandatory steps through the workshop, indicates this expert.

“There are safety and tolerance margins decided by the manufacturers and those in charge of certifying” the planes, recalls Vilmer.

The future risk for Russian aircraft is, according to him, to enter blacklists and be expelled from the airspace of neighboring countries for security reasons, by not respecting the rules of the manufacturers or the certifying authorities of the Airbus and Boeing, the EASA in Europe and the FAA in the United States.

In addition to “cannibalization”, companies may also be tempted to source parts on the parallel market, for which “there is a market” for trafficked or counterfeit parts.

Unscrupulous companies from other countries could buy more parts than necessary and then resell them.

“But that can only last for a while”, the traceability of the parts makes the constructor eventually know, added Vilmer.