Pobeda will cut its fleet almoust on half to provide spare parts

The low-cost Russian airline Pobeda Airlines will reduce its fleet from 41 to 25 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, according to a letter sent to the employees of the company's CEO Andrei Jurikov. The letter states that the number of flying aircraft will be reduced to cover the "need for spare parts for the whole fleet in the future" and to ensure flight safety.

"From the point of business development view, we are relatively returning to the beginning of 2019 - then Pobeda flew with 25 aircraft, and the flight program and team size was much smaller than now,"

said Jurikov.

At the same time, Pobeda confirms that the airline is "fully provided" in terms of maintenance.

At the end of February, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union imposed sanctions on the Russian aviation industry. The EU banned the supply of new spare parts to airlines, as well as the maintenance, support and insurance of Russian aircraft. In particular, the advance contracts for the supply of components for the Superjet 100 were frozen due to sanctions. Denis Manturov, head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said the decision would be challenged in court.

The Rostov plant stops repairing aircraft due to the suspension of spare parts deliveries from Ukraine

OJSC Rostov Civil Aviation Plant No. 412 (RZGA, part of the Agrocom Group) plans to stop repairing aircraft and transfer equipment to JSC Aramil Aircraft Repair Plant (Sverdlovsk Oblast), the Minister of Industry and Energy of the region Andrei Savelyev told Interfax.

The plant specializes in the overhaul and maintenance of aircraft engines, including the Tu-134 and An-26, as well as the AI-20 and AI-24 engines. The main supplier of spare parts was the Ukrainian Motor Sich. And if in the past the company was looking for opportunities to organize the delivery of components through third countries, then from the end of 2021 supplies have been completely suspended.