By The Moscow Times | Created at 2024-12-12 11:10:19 | Updated at 2024-12-19 03:02:45
6 days ago
Russia has manufactured seven passenger aircraft in the nearly three years since its aviation sector was paralyzed by Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine, BBC Russia reported Thursday, citing unofficial data.
The production figures for 2022, 2023 and 2024 contrast with the pre-war years. Russia manufactured 11 commercial aircraft in 2019, 12 in 2020 and 13 in 2021.
It also falls short of the government’s sanctions-busting plans to manufacture 14 passenger aircraft in 2022, 25 in 2023 and 69 in 2024.
An anonymous industry source told BBC Russia the plan to build more than 1,000 aircraft by 2030 was an “imitation of activity” designed to “calm government nerves.”
An anonymous aviation sector expert said military aircraft manufacturing uses up the resources that would otherwise go to civil aircraft production, according to BBC Russia.
Western sanctions cut off the supply of planes and parts to Russia, forcing Russian airlines to operate fewer flights and cannibalize planes for spare parts.
Authorities classified the number of civil aircraft registered with Russian carriers over the summer.
Industry experts said the data was classified to hide both the impact of Western sanctions on Russia’s aging fleet and parallel imports from third countries.
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