Russia built just seven of 108 planned passenger planes

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December 14, 2024
2 min read

Russia built just seven of 108 planned passenger planes

Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation has only managed to build seven out of the planned 108 passenger planes it had hoped to manufacture since 2022, the BBC reported. The Kyiv Independent said this is “underscoring the dire state of Russia’s plane manufacturing sector.”

The aviation and aircraft manufacturing industries were significantly affected by sanctions from the West following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The industries struggle because they rely on foreign components to manufacture and maintain their planes.

As a result, it had moved towards domestic production. Its Comprehensive Program for the Development of the Air Transport Industry until 2030 had hoped to make 1,032 passenger planes between 2022 and the end of the decade. This would comprise 14 in 2022, 25 in 2023, and 69 in 2024. The plan has been revised and postponed due to a shortage of supplies, according to the BBC.

The company is part of the state-owned conglomerate Rostec. It managed to build just seven SuperJet 100 airliners using stocks from before 2022. Russian manufacturers also managed to manufacture two experimental planes to be tested.

An industry source reportedly told the BBC that the plan was not taken seriously within the aviation industry, serving only to “calm the government’s nerves.” The crisis is affecting both manufacturers and Russian airline.

Around 30 Russian airlines which accounted for just over a quarter of the nation’s domestic passenger flights face bankruptcy by 2025, newspaper Izvestia reported. Only major airlines, including Aeroflot, Ural Airlines, and S7 Airlines, were able to buy back leased passenger planes with funds from the National Welfare Fund.

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