Russia's reliance on Airbus and Boeing for new aircraft looks
like it could be a thing of the past. The country's flag carrier, Aeroflot,
has finally confirmed it is turning inwards by placing an order for 339 locally built
aircraft. The order was signed at the Eastern Economic Forum being held from September 5 - 8 in
Vladivostok. Let’s take a look at this situation and the long term ramifications in today’s video…
According to ch-aviation.com, Aeroflot's order comprises 210 Irkut MC-21-300s,
40 Tupolev Tu-214 narrowbodies, and 89 Irkut SSJ
100/95-NEW regional jets. The latter being a revised version of the Superjet 100.
In a sign of things to come, all these aircraft will be in
'import-substituted' form, which means Russian-made systems and components,
including engines, will replace those from 'unfriendly' countries. The aircraft will
come from state-owned technology business Rostec, whose general director, Sergey Chemezov, said:
"Boeing and Airbus aircraft, which are unlikely ever to be delivered to Russia again,
will be replaced by Russian-made passenger aircraft."
He went on, saying, "of the 339 aircraft,
almost 300 are new-generation MC-21 and Superjet aircraft.
The Tu-214 will become a reliable workhorse for them - this aircraft was previously produced for
special customers and has proven itself well. The flagship in the Aeroflot fleet will be the MC-21."
Irkut Corporation, part of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC),
makes the MC-21 and the SSJ, while United Engine Corporation will build the engines. All these
companies are majority owned by Rostec, Russia's state-owned aerospace and defense conglomerate.
The SSJ-100/95NEW is not yet certified, given its engines were previously made by PowerJet,
a France-Russia joint venture between Safran and NPO Saturn. That formality will no doubt be
quickly taken care of, and the aircraft will start delivering to Aeroflot in 2023. The new narrowbody
MC-21 is also not yet certified, with the first deliveries of six aircraft expected in 2024.
The Tu-214 is a variant of the Tu-204, which was first flown in 1996 but has undergone various
upgrades since then. When Aeroflot takes the keys to the first seven in 2024, it will become the
first commercial operator of the type. The total order is due for delivery by the end of 2030.
As it now stands, the only Russian-built aircraft in the current fleet are 76
SSJ-100/95Bs, of which 72 are wet-leased and the other four shown as inactive.
The bulk of Aeroflot's fleet consists of 130 Airbus A320-family jets, 47 Boeing 737-800s
and 29 777-300 aircraft - some of which are also wet-leased.
So, with all of this recent activity, its quite apparent that Russia’s aviation industry
is adapting to western sanctions and preparing itself for an environment similar to the cold war.
While this may not come as much of a surprise given the past few months of conflict,
it is a sobering thought to consider that Airbus and Boeing will no longer
be sending any of their new jets to the Russian Federation...
Do you think that this shift to Russian-made
aircraft is the start of the end for Airbus and Boeing in Russia?