As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, determining the fate of aircraft, especially their maintenance schedule, becomes more pressing.
Aeroflot has now sent one of its A330-300s to Iran, where it’ll see repairs take place. This is a big moment for the Russian carrier scrambling to find ways to maintain the integrity of its flying fleet.
Last year reports emerged surrounding the airline looking towards canabilising older planes in favour of new ones to keep a fleet flying for as long as possible. However, sanctions imposed by the West mean that Aeroflot cannot continue to maintain a fleet as they would pre-war.
By Aeroflot sending their A330 to Iran for essential repairs and checks, they don’t break any of the sanctions put in place in 2022.
Given Iran and Russia’s close relationship, the pair intend on working together by utilising their shared knowledge to maintain jets for however extended sanctions continue.
Russia’s aviation industry has been put under a microscope since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, from leasing aircraft to the industry’s safety. These are among many other vital points that have all been brought up.
While sending an A330 to Iran for the checks offers a short-term solution, if Russia is to continue flying aircraft, there needs to be a long-term solution found, as to what that is at the moment remains unknown.
