Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in its airlines being banned from European, American and Canadian airspace. Russia is left with leased aircraft that it cannot use and is terminating the aerospace industry’s partnership with the West.
According to aviation experts, Russian citizens will not be able to fly to Europe or North America anytime soon, with even flights to friendly countries like China in doubt. The reason behind this is the boycott of the country’s aviation sector by the international community.
According to Aljazeera, Richard Aboulafia, MD, Michigan-based Aerodynamic Advisory, said, “Russia will be the world’s largest country with a developed economy, but the aviation industry will not be any better than North Korea.”
“Aviation restrictions are easy to implement,” Aboulafia said. Aboulafia has over 30 years of experience in the aviation industry. “Airlines can’t fly. They have to completely re-implement their aircraft plans, which are currently built on Western technology,” he said.
Eurocontrol, the agency that guides air traffic policy in the European Union, reports that Russian airlines have suspended 300 flights a day to Europe and European airlines have suspended 50 flights a day to Russian airports. Russia has retaliated with sanctions against any country that has banned its flights.
Russian citizens will not be able to travel for two reasons
“It will become increasingly difficult for Russians to travel for two reasons,” Sash Tusa, an aerospace and defense analyst at Agency Partners LLP in London, told Aljazeera.
He added, “One is that Russian airspace is closed to Western aircraft. Furthermore, international travel becomes extremely difficult as support for Western-built airline aircraft in Russia has been withdrawn.”
Boeing and Airbus refuse to provide spare parts
Boeing and Airbus, Russia’s main suppliers of commercial aircraft, have stopped providing spare parts for their planes to Russian airlines. Boeing has also closed a design center operating in Moscow and temporarily closed its office in Kyiv.
It can take weeks or months for airlines to run out of spare parts. Airlines can prolong operations by grounding some aircraft and swapping out spare parts for use on aircraft that are still flying, although such work is prohibited under the terms of the lease, which allow commercial aircraft to operate. do cover.
Companies asked for their planes from Russian airlines back
Like most commercial aircraft today, Russian airlines’ planes are owned by leasing companies in the West. Under European sanctions, leasing companies have until March 28 to terminate their contracts with Russian airlines.
Several leasing firms, including the world’s No. 1 player, Ireland-based Aircap, have confirmed that they have written to their Russian customers asking for the return of their aircraft.
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Ulik McAvady, founder of plane leasing company Omega Air, has described the return of hundreds of planes from Russia in such a short time as “impossible” due to the potential for legal challenges and a ban on Russian aircraft flying over European airspace.
How long will the Russian aviation industry remain sluggish?
How long Russian aviation remains dormant will depend not only on how long the war in Ukraine lasts, but also on the time it takes to resettle the Russian state in the eyes of the West.
Tusa predicted that relations between Russia and the West would crumble for years. He described it as more serious than the previous wars and spoke of a long-standing dispute between the two.
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