Sanctions fail: Russia acquires $1B spare parts for Boeing & Airbus

Boeing reiterated its compliance with regulations and stated it no longer maintains business relations with Russian carriers. Airbus emphasized that "there is no legal method for aircraft, parts, documentation or services to be exported into Russia." The company added that while they can track genuine parts and specify end-user commitments, policing non-genuine parts remains a challenge.

Yle's investigation revealed over 4,000 shipments of various components have reached Russia since February 2022. These range from small cabin fittings to electronics and even entire powerplants. Hundreds of firms are involved in these transactions.

Most parts are sold to civilian companies like Aeroflot or S7 Airlines; however, given many Russian carriers are government-owned, supplying them indirectly benefits the government financially. There is also concern about technology being used directly in military applications.

Countries involved in facilitating these imports have not joined the sanctions against Russia. In response, Western nations have sanctioned specific companies but acknowledge it's nearly impossible to completely halt this operation.

During the Soviet era, most commercial flights within the USSR were operated by locally designed airliners. In recent years though, Russian carriers primarily use Airbus and Boeing models. With new Western plane purchases blocked due to sanctions, efforts are underway to revitalize domestic aircraft production—evidenced by a recent flight of an all-Russian variant of the MC-21 narrowbody jet.

Many airliners worldwide operate on leases; hundreds in Russia were leased from foreign companies who sought repossession under international law via the Cape Town Convention—a treaty requiring cooperation with lessors for repossessions—but were thwarted when Russian authorities instructed airlines to retain planes by re-registering them domestically.

Russia's airline industry now faces challenges akin to those experienced by Iran: severe sanctions prevent new orders forcing reliance on older fleets beyond typical service lives while focusing more on repairs than replacements amid difficulties acquiring necessary components despite ongoing imports or potential new models emerging soon.

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