Russian Boeings and Airbus’s
 

When the Russians invaded Ukraine both Boeing and Airbus quite rightly withdrew engineering support for any Russian registered aircraft, yet there are hundreds still flying. How is this possible after all this time? Surely they can’t be relying on cannabalisation of other a/c or producing their own spares? They would be dropping like flies if they were.

How many hundred do you think are currently flying ?

TIR.............

Making a quick check courtesy of google, it would appear that there were roughly 340 Airbus types and 330 Boeing types in service prior to the unpleasantries. I can see very roughly 100 flying at the moment.

A look at the arrivals boards would suggest that the most Russians have a very limited choice of destinations. Should be plenty of accommodation available in Courchevel this winter.

Would sympathetic Boeing & Airbus customers in other countries order parts for them? If so, this might be hard to prevent.

those countries are very few (Eritrea, Syria, Iran, North Korea, et al) and by doing so they would risk themselves ending on a sanctioned countries list. Which is the reason why Philippines canceled its order of Mi-17 helicopters and is now looking for chinooks. Also, Indonesia, Egypt and Algeria have cancelled their SU35 FJ considerations for the same reason (and the fact that those have not exactly shined in the bsttle field and Russia apparently not being able to deliver due to sanctions).

All in all, highly unlikely that anyone will do it for the russkies.

Seems to be quite a few still out and about. Filtering FR24 by Rego = RA, and ICAO Code = B or A you get the following ADS-B targets.

A couple of dozen random clicks to make sure there weren't any ring-ins' in the data found a lone Turbo-Commander caught up in the filter, but that's about it. The rest all seem to have come from Seattle or Toulouse.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....6fee2842d6.jpg

Thanks for that.

I make that 13 operators, unless anyone has sharper eyes and can add any:

AFL Aeroflot Russian Airlines
AUL Smartavia Airlines
LLM Yamal Airlines
NWC North-West Air Company
NWS Nordwind Airlines
PBD Pobeda
RSY I-Fly
SBI S7 Airlines
SDM Rossiya Airlines
SHU Aurora Airlines
SVR Ural Airlines
TYA NordStar
UTA UT Air

Could China build and supply western style aircraft tyres?

You mean like the ones they sold to Russian military vehicles? :E

Rest assured that the Boeings and Airbuses that Putin confiscated will continue to fly for a very long time.

For parts and whatever, those can always be smuggled via China, or even be 'Made in China'.

Aren't Airbuses and Boeings licensed to be assembled in China ? They are !!!
Therefore, whatever happens to be necessary, can certainly be arranged ...

A bit of thread drift ...

Putin would not go for Ukraine without the huge backdoor called China. China will benefit of the vast Russian natural resources, and there isn't that much stuff that Putin can not get via China. It is, as China normally calls it, a 'win win' situation.

And what if sanctions are brought against China for aiding Russia to bypass the sanctions against them? There are over 2000 Airbus alone in China. Not sure about Boeings.

Assuming roughly half the fleet is parked, those aircraft can be cannibalized to keep the others flying for quite a while before the standard wear items start to run short. If Russia is smart (big if, as demonstrated by their performance to date in Ukrain), they're currently working on domestic production of the more critical wear items.
The bigger question is, will it ever be viable to return all those Russian controlled aircraft to service outside Russia.

Just one issue: Who will insure them? They are not treated according to procedures. Maybe they were even sort of misused like over cycled, over houred or ill-maintained with make shift solutions? They will not return to the West.

Many lessors have effectively written off their aircraft trapped in Russia as they will never be leasable again.

They will end up like those US-made cars in Cuba.

Gawd help us. Last time I went in one those in Havana, braking downhill an the car went sideways. Not to mention the 1/4 steering wheel input before anything happened.

Thankfully never went above 30mph….

They may have effectively written off their aircraft trapped in Russia BUT the lessors have not really shelled money out, they have "bought" these airframes with money borrowed from western banks and now they make insurance claims from western insurance agents/syndicates, hoping not to lose.

The longer the RU/UKR "special military operation" continues the more those airframes become worthless, but if it ends soon then IMHO they will be approaching authorities to "get" them accepted by the cheapest means possible.....

Holding War risk insurance on a lease is one thing, insurance against a special military operation is another.

And just another issue: who will certify their airworthiness? There's not a EASA Part145/Part M organisation (or worldwide ICAO equivalent, outside of Russia, Belarus and DPRK) is going to touch them with a bargepole.