Russia has built 15 times fewer civilian aircraft than promised to Putin

The Russian aviation industry has been able to produce only seven aircraft suitable for civil aviation, the SuperJet 100, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

Source: BBC Russian Service

Details: The plan was to produce 108 aircraft by 2025. However, the Russian government's ambitious programme of complete import substitution in the aviation industry was a mere "imitation of activity".

In addition, seven SuperJet 100 passenger aircraft were assembled after the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine from pre-war stocks.

In addition to these SuperJets, two more prototype aircraft were built: the Il-96-400M and Il-114. They are currently conducting test flights.

According to the Comprehensive Programme for the Development of the Air Transport Industry until 2030, adopted in June 2022, the Russian aviation industry was supposed to produce 1,032 passenger aircraft by the end of this period, including 14 aircraft by the end of 2022, 25 in 2023, and 69 by the end of 2024. However, sanctions made it impossible to meet the plan, and the deadlines were postponed twice.

In the spring of 2022, 1,101 passenger aircraft flew to Russia. 738 of them were foreign, accounting for about 95% of passenger traffic.

Currently, airlines are staying afloat by repairing aircraft by removing spare parts from other machines or through grey import schemes.

Background:

• Russian authorities are launching a "purge" of top aviation industry managers after the sector failed to deliver on the Kremlin's plan to produce domestic civil aircraft as replacements for Western models.
• Russia continues to purge top managers in the aviation industry. Following the heads of PJSC Yakovlev and JSC Tupolev, Nikolai Savitskykh, the director of the Kazan Aircraft Plant (KAP), lost his position.

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