Russian Transport Minister Vitaly Saveliev said that some Russian aircraft continue to be serviced abroad. This statement was made as part of an interview with the channel "Russia 1" on Thursday, June 8.
"There are a number of states that help us with maintenance, but it's not because we can't cope. We are just looking for options where we can serve more," Saveliev said.
The Minister also added that 1,288 aircraft are currently in operation in Russia, while more than 1,160 of them are civil aircraft. According to Saveliev, this amount is enough to cover all the needs for domestic transportation.
"This is quite enough to close all our transportation. And if last year we transported 95.2 million people with a plan of 100 million people due to the fact that 11 southern airports were closed, which in general transport about 19 million passengers a year. This year we have a slightly larger plan — 101 million passengers. At the moment, in five months we are ahead of it by 1 million 400 thousand passengers," the minister said.
Maintenance of Russian aircraft was significantly hampered due to sanctions imposed by the West shortly after Russia launched an operation to protect civilians in the Donbass.
However, the Russian aviation industry has demonstrated high adaptability to tough sanctions. For example, on June 7, the United Aircraft Corporation announced the preparation of the Il-96-400M prototype, created as part of the Il-96 family aircraft modernization program, for the first flight.
On June 16, 2022, the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov announced that Russian airlines will receive more than 1,000 aircraft for the needs of civil aviation by 2030.
On June 13, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov announced that the launch of mass production of Russian aircraft of various classes will take from three to five years. According to him, for this "we need to work intensively" and not forget about other types of aircraft to ensure new logistics of transportation.
Earlier, on June 3, Borisov stated that the first 20 fully Russian Sukhoi Superjet passenger aircraft will be released by 2024. More than 80 imported units will be replaced in the aircraft, almost all deliveries of parts will be completed by December of this year, and tests will begin next year.
