Sanctions Endanger Passengers Flying On Russian Planes

As Russia's economy gets pummeled by increasingly severe western sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine, the country's crucial airline industry could soon find itself on life support, Chris Isidore reported for CNN Business.

Photo Insert: Russia's major carrier, Aeroflot, has been cut off from Sabre, which had provided the computing backbone that allowed the airline to easily book tickets.

Russian airlines have been essentially cut off from much of the world. But that is the least of the industry's problems. Russia's domestic airline industry could soon become a mere shell of its former self due to restrictions on its operations.

Sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union (EU) mean that the world's two major aircraft makers, Boeing and Airbus, are no longer able to supply spare parts or provide maintenance support for Russian airlines. The same is true of jet engine makers.

That means Russian airlines could run out of necessary parts within a matter of weeks, or fly planes without having equipment replaced as frequently as recommended to operate safely.

"The priority of the Russian government doesn't include consumer safety and reliability," said Charles Lichfield, the deputy director of GeoEconomics Center at the Atlantic Council, an international think tank.

Russia's major carrier, Aeroflot, has been cut off from Sabre, which had provided the computing backbone that allowed the airline to easily book tickets. And aircraft leasing companies, which own about 80% of the nearly 900 commercial planes in Russia's fleet, have been ordered to repossess those planes by the end of this month.

Those leased planes have a declared value of $13.3 billion, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium, although the true market value at the moment is likely a fraction of that.

"Within a year Russia will cease to have any kind of viable airline industry," said Richard Aboulafia, managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory. He said the country's airline industry could soon find itself somewhere between the heavily sanctioned industries in Iran and North Korea.

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