RBC: airlines may stop flights on Sukhoi Superjet 100 due to a shortage of spark plugs for engines

Russian airlines are faced with a shortage of spark plugs for Russian-French SaM146 engines for Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) aircraft. This may lead to a partial or complete halt to SSJ100 flights in the near future. This was reported RBC citing sources at six airlines.

IrAero told RBC that the company has several spare spark plugs and the intensity of flights on the SSJ100 is not decreasing yet. The shortage of candles was also reported by Azimut Airlines. According to Pavel Udod, chairman of the boards of directors of the carrier, several options were offered to the airlines to solve the problem, but the SSJ100 flight hours in the summer will not be increased until they pass certification. Sources of RBC in Yakutia reported that the company does not have new candles, but the carrier should have enough old ones until the end of 2023.

According to RBC, in mid-February, a letter to the Ministry of Industry and Trade about the problem with a shortage of spark plugs was sent by the deputy general director of IrAero, Vladimir Panfilov. In the letter, Mr. Panfilov noted that the shortage of candles jeopardizes the implementation of the flight program for the transportation of passengers. According to him, the situation may lead to the risk of a partial stoppage of flights on the SSJ100 exists “in the near future and a gradual complete cessation of flights of the entire aircraft fleet.” He also asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to speed up the process of developing candles at the research and production enterprise Molniya (part of the structure of Rostec).

In turn, Rostec confirmed to RBC the development of Russian spark plugs for engines. According to a representative of the state corporation, work on import substitution “is in full swing.”

Olesya Pavlenko