The airlines of the Russian Federation reported a threat of cessation of SSJ flights due to sanctions and engine repair problems

Russian airlines operating domestic Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft cannot repair and support the Russian-French engines SAM146 in good condition. Soon, this can lead to Superjet's Stop, the letter sent by the general director of Iraero, Yuri Lapin Governor of the Irkutsk Region Igor Kobzev, said. A copy of the letter was at the disposal of RBC.

About the problems of servicing the airliner's engines after the introduction of the sanctions of the European Union prohibiting the cooperation of foreign manufacturers with Russian airlines, the managers of three more carriers flying to Superjet said.

In order to solve the problem, Lapin asks Kobzev to invite the Government of the Russian Federation to transfer all the powers to repair engines and the shipment of spare parts for them the United Engine Corporation, which is part of the Rostec State Corporation. And the representative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade assured that the UPK "does everything necessary to ensure technical support, carry out repairs, supply of spare parts and services in relation to all engines that it produces."

Since June 2011, Russian airlines have been used by Superjet near -magi aircraft, which are transported by 103 passengers in the maximum layout. According to the Transport Clearing Chamber, in 2019, to the Pandemia of Coronavirus, 5.7 million people transported such aircraft, or 4.4% of the total passenger flow of all airlines in Russia.

Now the carriers have about 150 Superjet in operation, at the end of March 2022, the Minister of Transport Vitaliy Savelyev said. According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, 11 Russian companies fly to them: Russia (the largest operator, in the park of 68 such cars) and its maternal company Aeroflot, Azimut, Gazprom Avia, Iraero, Red Wings, the Severstal, Yakutia, Yamal, special flight squad "Russians" (transports the highests (transports the highests officials of the country) and the Ministry of Emergencies.

According to Savelyev, in 2022 it was on Superjet that the main load on the execution of international flights should lie down. After the introduction of Western sanctions, foreign leasing companies began to demand from Russian carriers to return Airbus and Boeing aircraft, which until recently carried out the main transportation in Russia and beyond. Now, during flights abroad, there is a risk of arresting foreign aircraft at the request of the lesslers. As of March 22, carriers (among which Victory, S7 and Nordwind) thus lost 78 cars (about 10% of all foreign aircraft in Russia), the head of the Ministry of Transport said.

The designers “from more than 20 world leaders of aircraft industry” worked on the creation of Superjet, the website of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC; included in Rostec). The SAM146 turbocharging engines for Superjet are produced by Powerjet, a joint venture of the French Safran Aircraft Engines and UDK-Saturn (Daughter of the CSTO). Moreover, some parts of the motor are produced and repaired in France, others in Russia. After-sales services for engines are also provided by Powerjet, which, due to sanctions, suspended the contracts with the CHDK-Saturn, forbade it to ship the shipment of any products, even the engines under the repair in Russia. Because of this, the “daughter” of the ODK refuses to accept the Superjet engines for repairs, the Lapin’s letter says.

Iraero, which has seven such aircraft in the park, is no longer enough four engines. The Irkutsk airline cannot even receive paid spare parts located in the OSK-Saturn warehouse, since they belong to Powerjet, Lapin points out. In addition, at least two Russian airlines cannot pick up engines after repairs in France, their managers told RBC.

A source close to the UAC says that SSJ will most likely stop flights not because of problems with the technical support of the engines, but "due to the absence of such prosaic things as wheels and brakes, various sensors and valves." If you do not solve the problem of localizing the production and repair of components, then by the end of 2022, “half of the Superjet park will be riveted to the ground, he predicts.

In early March, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov announced the acceleration of work on the creation of a completely localized version of Superjet, it is planned to produce up to 40 such aircraft a year. However, for this, it is necessary to equip the SSJ with the PD-8 motor and find the replacement of 27 more imported aircraft systems.

The first Superjet flight with Russian engines is scheduled for the first quarter of 2023, but by that time a significant share of the SSJ park can already be disabled.

The UAC is now actively dealing with import substitution issues, says a source close to the corporation. But many Russian enterprises “swing for a long time, bureaucratizing advanced processes,” he complains. And if for Boeing or Airbus aircraft you can find spare parts in other countries from among the “friendly” in relation to the Russian Federation, then for technical support Superjet there are only two ways - import substitution or cancellation of sanctions, says Oleg Panteleev, executive director of the Aviaport industry agency.