For Russia, orders for spare parts from Boeing or Airbus, it’s niet. Non-negotiable. Since the invasion of Ukraine, Western sanctions have prohibited companies from supplying it to Moscow. But according to a survey by the Reuters news agency, the country has found an ingenious solution to try to cope with the shortage: Recycling.
Russian airlines are dismantling airliners and salvaging spare parts so that other aircraft, built abroad, can continue to fly. Airbus had announced in mid-March the suspension of a delivery of thirteen A380s to the Russian company Aeroflot. Maintenance of previously delivered devices is also suspended.
Several devices being stripped
The national subsidiary is therefore today forced to dig into the carcasses of its own planes in order to extend the life expectancy of aircraft built abroad until at least 2025.
Reuters confirms the dismantling of at least two aircraft: a Sukhoi Superjet 100 – assembled in Russia but largely dependent on foreign parts – and an almost new Airbus A350. Other Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 have already been dismantled to replace certain parts of other aircraft of the same models while the company’s fleet is made up of 80% Boeing and Airbus.