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dalton99a

(81,455 posts) Fri Mar 11, 2022, 04:43 PM Mar 2022

"Within a year Russia will cease to have any kind of viable airline industry"

https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/11/business/russia-airlines-sanctions/index.html

Flying on Russian planes is about to get much more dangerous
By Chris Isidore, CNN Business

Sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union mean that the world's two major aircraft makers, Boeing (BA) and Airbus (EADSF), are no longer able to supply spare parts or provide maintenance support for Russian airlines. The same is true of jet engine makers.

That means Russian airlines could run out of necessary parts within a matter of weeks, or fly planes without having equipment replaced as frequently as recommended to operate safely.

Russia's major carrier, Aeroflot, has been cut off from Sabre, which had provided the computing backbone that allowed the airline to easily book tickets. And aircraft leasing companies, which own about 80% of the nearly 900 commercial planes in Russia's fleet, have been ordered to repossess those planes by the end of this month. Those leased planes have a declared value of $13.3 billion, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium, although the true market value at the moment is likely a fraction of that.

"Within a year Russia will cease to have any kind of viable airline industry," said Richard Aboulafia, managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory. He said the country's airline industry could soon find itself somewhere between the heavily sanctioned industries in Iran and North Korea.

Some of the companies leasing planes to Russian carriers are Chinese, and China has yet to impose any sanctions of its own. But it is possible that even Chinese leasing companies could feel compelled to try to take possession of the Boeing and Airbus jets they have leased to Russian airlines, Aboulafia said. That's because those Chinese companies don't want to risk any trouble buying planes from Airbus or Boeing in the future.