Russia Faces Aircraft Shortage Amid Parts Crisis

Russia is facing increasing challenges in maintaining its aircraft fleet as sanctions have restricted access to imported spare parts. Russian airlines are forced to seek complex import routes through third countries to secure critical spare parts.

According to Reuters, Russian aircraft manufacturers delivered only one of the 15 passenger planes expected this year. Of the 700 aircraft in Russia's fleet, most are from European Airbus and American Boeing, which stopped deliveries to Russia after the sanctions.

The situation is exacerbated by a lack of domestic production of spare parts and engineers. Recent incidents, such as the crash of an Antonov An-24 and a cyberattack on Aeroflot, highlight the need to maintain the fleet.

The government has revised production targets, while Rostec faces challenges in producing new aircraft with Russian components. Russia continues to import parts through countries such as Turkey, China, and the United Arab Emirates.

The limited number of aircraft has led to an increase in ticket costs, forcing Moscow to seek solutions such as assigning local routes to Central Asian airlines.