While Russia has given Dubai-based MRO permission to service jets, Faury claims he is concerned but lacks the practical tools to do so. Airbus held its annual news conference on Thursday to report the 2022 financial results. With a 13% growth in revenues for the entire year, the aerospace giant’s trend was generally upward.
There are still a few flies in the ointment, though. Planned production increases for airplanes are still being hampered by supply chain concerns.
Message from the chief
In addition, the Russian market is now closed due to the sanctions imposed on the nation as a result of Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Also, the ongoing airworthiness of the existing aircraft in the Russian fleet is a source for worry due to the difficulty in obtaining approved spare parts and maintenance.
Guillaume Faury, the chief executive officer of Airbus, made a statement about the current situation in Russia as it pertains to his firm and the aircraft that bear its logo,
“While certainly less than before February 24th of last year, we still have some visibility. What we see is that the sanctions haven’t stopped Russian airlines from operating flights. They were really flying more in the second half of 2022 than they were before to COVID.”
Faury carried on:
“But, reports of instances where they are lacking parts or components or are unable to maintain some of the planes in flight began to surface. But we don’t communicate with Russian airlines.
Visibility is lacking. Indeed, we are somewhat alarmed by the way the planes are run, but we lack the power to do anything about it.” Russia claims everything will be fine for another seven years despite the official supply of spare components running out.
Late last year, Sergei Alexandrovsky, the president and chief executive officer of the state-owned Aeroflot Group, predicted that spare parts would be available for two to six months, depending on the component.
The cannibalization of parked aircraft has been authorized by Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency (FAVT), commonly known as Rosaviatsiya, in order to keep the fleet in the air.
The Agency’s chief, however, objects to the use of the phrase, claiming that what is actually happening is simply a more structured version of a fairly regular practice of “rearranging” pieces. He added that Russian airlines may safely continue using Airbus and Boeing aircraft through the year 2030.
Dubai will provide maintenance for Airbus narrowbodies including the A330.
Naturally, not every nation in the world has imposed sanctions on Russia as a result of its actions in Ukraine. While Turkish ground handlers might soon refuse service to Russian aircraft, Rosaviatsia has given the go-ahead for Dubai-based Global Jet Technik to maintain Airbus and Boeing aircraft with Russian registration. Aerotime Hub cited a statement from the agency as saying,
“On February 8, 2023, Rosaviatsiya presented Global Jet Technic, a maintenance company based in the United Arab Emirates, with a certificate of compliance as part of the National Civil Aviation Infrastructure Exposition NAIS-2023.”
Rosaviatsia added that the certificate entitles the UAE-based Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) firm to “carry out repair of Boeing 737, Airbus A318, A319, A320, A321, and Airbus A330 aircraft.”
