Airlines asked the Ministry of Transport to legalize the "cannibalization" of aircraft

Russian airlines have asked the Ministry of Transport to allow them to legally rearrange components from one aircraft to another to maintain the fleet in good working order under the sanctions, Izvestia reports, citing a letter from the President of the Association of Air Transport Operators (AEVT) Vladimir Tasun to Deputy Minister of Transport Igor Chalik.

According to the AEVT, today such a rearrangement of aircraft components is limited by federal aviation regulations (FAP No. 285). In particular, they do not provide for the possibility of removing a serviceable component and then installing it on another aircraft.

“This is contrary to global practice and does not make it possible to flexibly manage the HEALTH of the aircraft fleet,” the HEAD of the Association said in a letter.

He also emphasized that this is relevant for cases where two vessels simultaneously recorded one failure of various components and it would be possible to rearrange the serviceable one so that at least one of the two flew.

It is proposed to legalize the removal of components through an adjustment to the March government decree No. 353 “On the features of licensing activities in the Russian Federation in 2022” and its aviation part. When removing a part, an expiration date should be issued for it, an analysis of the suitability and condition should be carried out; the component must be re-evaluated and tested after installation on another vessel, follows from the proposed amendment. Moreover, AEVT proposes to allow the rearrangement of components between aircraft of different airlines.

The Ministry of Transport, according to a source close to the department of Izvestia and another source of the newspaper in the Federal Air Transport Agency, is already developing appropriate amendments to FAP-285. It is expected that they can be approved in March 2023, the interlocutors specified.

The press service of the Ministry of Transport confirmed to Izvestia that the department is developing draft regulations, including those aimed at regulating issues of maintaining the airworthiness of civil aircraft. The documents were promised to be published in advance for public discussion.

Since the end of February, the UK, the US , the EU and other countries have imposed restrictions on the flights of Russian airlines. The EU also imposed a ban on the EXPORT to RUSSIA of goods and technologies used in the aviation and space sectors, as well as a ban on insurance and maintenance of goods related to these industries.

The American manufacturer Boeing has temporarily stopped maintenance and support of Russian airlines and the supply of spare parts to them. Similar measures were taken by the European manufacturer Airbus.

Kommersant, citing sources in the Ministry of Transport, AEVT and two airlines, wrote that according to the negative scenario of the program for the development of the Russian air transport industry until 2030, from the second half of 2022, the fleet of foreign aircraft in the country will begin to decrease rapidly and the dismantling of aircraft for spare parts will ensure airworthiness surviving aircraft fleet. According to the newspaper's source in the Ministry of Transport, from half to two thirds of foreign aircraft are under the threat of dismantling.

In mid-June, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov warned that Russia needed to prepare for the fact that some foreign aircraft would have to be dismantled for spare parts. According to the Ministry of Transport, the fleet can be operated for another five years, he added.