Russian Airlines Are Still Getting American Parts Despite Sanctions

According to the report, the Russian aviation industry continues to import aircraft parts made by the American company Boeing and the French company Airbus despite the sanctions placed on the Russian aviation industry.

Aeroflot Sends Plane To Iran For Maintenance(Opens in a new browser tab)

Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States has joined forces with close to 40 other nations to impose sanctions on Moscow, restricting Moscow’s access to the weaponry, computer chips, airplane parts, and other things that Moscow needs to fuel its military and economic activities. In addition, Russian airlines such as Aeroflot, Rossiya, and others were subject to the sanctions.

Over 5,000 shipments of aviation parts were made into Russia over the course of eight months in 2022, according to Import Genius, a U.S. trade data aggregator. To get around sanctions, the components would be bought from the producers by third-party businesses, sent to nations like China or the United Arab Emirates, and then delivered to Russian airlines. The parts imported during the time period under observation were worth $14.4 million, including $8.9 million in Boeing components.

The A350 aircraft owned by Aeroflot could be delivered to Air India.(Opens in a new browser tab)

From $3.45 billion to just $286 million, the value of imported aircraft and aviation components into Russia has decreased. Foreign aircraft stranded in Russia have also been seized and dismantled for components in addition to being cannibalized by their own aircraft. It will become harder for Russian airlines to get the parts they need to maintain their planes in the air as time goes on.

Without access to Western suppliers and technical support from Boeing and Airbus, it becomes more difficult for Russian airlines to continue operating airplanes.