Russian aircraft makers have delivered only one of 15 planned commercial jets this year, data from Swiss aviation intelligence provider ch-aviation showed, as sanctions on foreign components stalled production and high interest rates crimped investment.
Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Western sanctions have cut off access to foreign-made aircraft and spare parts. With a fleet of more than 700 planes dominated by Airbus and Boeing jets, Russian airlines now rely on complex, indirect import routes to source critical components.
“There is no component base, no technology, no production facilities, no engineers,” said one Russian aviation industry source, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. “To create all this from scratch takes years, if not decades.”
Given Russia’s geographical challenges as the world’s largest country, it depends on commercial aircraft for domestic freight and passenger transport across its 11 time zones.
Recent major incidents have highlighted the urgent need to prevent the fleet from degrading. In late July, a Soviet-era Antonov An-24, built in 1976, crashed in the country’s far east, killing all 48 people on board. Days later, flag carrier Aeroflot grounded dozens of flights following a crippling cyberattack.
The aviation sector’s struggles to become self-sufficient form part of a broader industrial slowdown. Russia’s factory output contracted at its fastest pace since March 2022 in July, according to Purchasing Managers’ Index data, and industrial growth continues to decelerate.
High interest rates have played a part in dwindling car production, coal sector bankruptcies, slowing export volumes of commodities like metals and oil products, as well as the missed plane-building targets, officials and businesses have said, contributing to slowing economic growth.
“Industry is being hit faster and harder by tight monetary policy,” said Dmitry Polevoy, head of investment at Astra Asset Management, warning that the industrial sector was on the brink of recession.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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