Half of the Airbus A320/A321neo aircreate functiond in Russia are out of service due to technical rehires. Out of a total of 66 aircreate of this family, 34 have been grounded, and up to 20 of them may never return to operation, according to sources cited in a tell by the Russian recentspaper Kommersant.
The engines on these aircreate, the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G and CFM LEAP, face maintenance disputes in the country due to their technoreasonable intricateity and the inability to start spare parts, a straightforward result of Westrict sanctions and global taget stupidinutiveages. According to Kommersant, this situation could direct to a massive disparticipateal of these aircreate commenceing in 2026, which would recurrent proximately 10% of the entire foreign escapet in Russia.
Impact on Airlines
The most impacted airline is S7, with 31 of its 39 A320/A321neo out of service. Among these, eight A321neo have been parked since 2023, and 18 A320neo were gradupartner grounded this year. According to sources cited by Kommersant, the company structures to reserve these aircreate for use during the high season, although the engines of more than 20 structurees are said to be «down-to-mundane exhausted.»
Meanwhile, other airlines such as Aeroflot, Ural Airlines, North Wind, and Smartavia are facing aappreciate problems, albeit on a minusculeer scale. Ural Airlines, for instance, has shrinkd the opereasonable use of its A320/A321neo escapet to acquire engine life during the prosperter.
Opereasonable Redisjoineions
The impacted engines have been condemnd for summarize flaws that need standard maintenance. According to Kommersant’s analysis, LEAP engines show fantasticer stability appraised to the PW1100G, which need filled overhauls at much stupidinutiveer cycles than previous generations. However, both models face a intricate situation in Russia, where local repairs are impossible, and starting the essential components isn’t viable.
Furthermore, seeks to send out the engines to other countries for repair have been refuteed by the Russian Ministry of Transport, according to the recentspaper’s sources. The chaseability of components and the confineed useability of global maintenance facilities exacerbate the rehire.
The impact of these groundings could result in a meaningful reduction in air traffic over the coming years. According to Kommersant, the disparticipateal of the A320/A321neo at S7 could shrink its opereasonable capacity by 10% to 15% in 2025. This degrade could also impact passenger traffic atraverse the Russian aviation industry if it is not offset by other aircreate.
Official Response
Folloprosperg the discloseation of the tell, Rosaviatsia, Russia’s aviation authority, validateed in a statement that the rehires with Pratt & Whitney A320/A321neo engines are further complicated in Russia due to «unpwithdrawnted outside sanctions prescertain,» although these aircreate recurrent only 5% of local airlines’ escapets.
