The Ministry of Industry and Trade promised to replace the fleet with Russian aircraft in 5-7 years

The Russian air fleet is planned to be replaced by domestic aircraft within 5-7 years. This was announced by the director of the aviation industry department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Anna Panina, specifying that we are talking about 1,000 aircraft.

“Today, the task has been set to completely replace the fleet with domestic aircraft within five to seven years. We must replace more than 1,000 aircraft by 2030. The production capacities of industrial enterprises are now increasing at an active pace, ”she said (cit. according to TASS).

Panina added that the planes that are now being assembled in Russia are entirely made up of domestic components.

March 15 Minister of Transport Vitaly Savelyev declaredthat Russia will be able to maintain the airworthiness of foreign aircraft until 2030. According to Savelyev, Russia managed to avoid dismantling the aircraft into parts. He clarified that the airlines are provided with “normal, certified” spare parts.

Former head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Alexander Neradko saidthat Western aircraft of Russian airlines can “fly safely” until 2030, provided that work is carried out to maintain their airworthiness. The head of the Federal Air Transport Agency emphasized that an aircraft is considered serviceable, “which has a reserve of resource, all the comments have been eliminated on board and for which the relevant documentation has been drawn up.”

At the end of 2022 the government extended until December 31, 2023, the validity period of airworthiness certificates for foreign-made aircraft. The Federal Air Transport Agency then noted that this was necessary to “ensure the smooth functioning of the air transport industry.”

At the end of February 2022, the European Union imposed sanctions against Russia in response to a special operation in Ukraine. In particular, the sanctions provide for a ban on the sale of aircraft, components and equipment to Russian airlines.

Until March 28, foreign leasing companies had to take their aircraft from Russian operators. In response, the government ordered return them only by decision of the government commission on import substitution. As a result, a significant part of the aircraft remained in Russia – they carry out transportation within the country.