Airbus will continue to use titanium from Russia.

According to CEO Guillaume Faury of the European aircraft manufacturer, the metal is very important for the aviation industry, while an import ban would hardly hurt Russia.

"This would have a minor impact on Russia and major implications for other countries and the aviation industry"

said Faury at Airbus' general shareholders' meeting. For that reason, he finds sanctions against titanium from Russia "inappropriate".

According to Faury, Airbus itself has built up enough stocks of titanium to continue producing in the short and medium term if the EU decides to ban titanium from Russia. The company is still able to buy the metal from the Russian metal producer VSMPO-AVISMA. Russia accounts for about half of all the titanium that Airbus needs.

Boeing, the American rival of Airbus, has stopped importing titanium from Russia. According to Faury, Airbus is in the process of finding more titanium from other manufacturers than Russian.

Titanium is popular in aviation because it is relatively light. In addition, it rusts less quickly and the material remains stiffer than other metals during temperature changes. So far, EU countries have not banned titanium from Russia.

Titanium is used in aircraft construction in, among other things, fuselage construction, landing gear and engine parts.