Russia struggles to phase out Western planes amid parts shortage

Russia aims to withdraw Western-made passenger planes from use due to a lack of parts and factory service, leading to their worsening condition. The problem, however, is that there is nothing to replace them with, and the domestic production of passenger planes barely meets demand.

Sanctions have severely impacted Russian air transport. Although most planes are still operational, essential parts and factory service are lacking. As a result, reliability is declining and the risk of operation is increasing. Poorly serviced planes continuing to fly will likely cause an increase in air disasters over time.

This is why Russia has declared its intention to rapidly withdraw Western-made passenger planes – mainly Boeing and Airbus – from use. The problem is that it needs approximately 550 new aircraft to replace them, whereas the Russian industry produces only about two per year.

The situation is further complicated because, according to the Ukrainian service Defense Express, Western-made planes constitute 65% of Russia's passenger plane fleet but account for up to 95% of all flights.

To keep Western planes in operation, Russia is changing regulations regarding the inspection and servicing of planes and trying to obtain parts through third countries such as Turkey or the United Arab Emirates.

Despite Russian politicians' declarations about replacing Western planes with Russian equivalents, the industry cannot deliver adequate replacements.

Although Russia can theoretically produce several types of passenger planes – such as the MS-21, Superjet, Tu-214, Il-114, Il-96 – in practice, the production of newer models is delayed, and older ones – such as the Il-96 – are produced only in single units annually.