Air TransportRussia reportedly received €1 billion in spare parts for Boeing and Airbus aircraft
Western sanctions that banned the shipment of spare components for Boeing and Airbus aircraft to Russian airlines have been largely circumvented, an investigation by Finland’s Yle has found.
The outlet collected customs data between February 2022 and September 2024 and found around 4,000 shipments of Airbus and Boeing parts to Russia, worth up to €1 billion (US$1.17 billion).
According to the report, more than 360 companies around the world participated in the scheme to ship parts, which include everything from avionics to engines to Russian customers.
Most of the exports (about a third) were made by the United Arab Emirates, which maintained normal trade relations with Russia, but there were also significant shipments of components from Gabon, China and Turkey.
Airbus aircraft accounted for 600 million euros in spare parts and Boeing for the remaining 400 million euros – Yle did not collect data from other manufacturers.
Non-genuine parts
As soon as Russia launched its full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, several Western governments began to announce economic sanctions on the country, hoping to pressure the Putin government to back down.
But the effect was minimal. There were about 500 commercial aircraft in Russia leased by Western companies, which were unable to recover almost any of them.
The Russian government transferred ownership and re-registered them. Later, a large number of the aircraft ended up being traded to the lessors.
Initially, technical problems and the grounding of some aircraft seemed to have had some effect on the fleet, but as time went on it became clear that Russian carriers were only partially affected.
Putin also authorized the production of non-genuine parts for Airbus and Boeing, but the volume of exports uncovered by YLE suggests that most of the aircraft may have received genuine components.
A330 for Belavia, Belarus
If the sanctions failed to curb the sale of spare parts, they were more successful in preventing the shipment of aircraft to Russia.
But even this was eventually circumvented, as happened a few days ago with the carrier Belavia, from Belarus, a country loyal to Putin and also facing the embargo.
Belavia took delivery of three second-hand Airbus A330-200s, despite the sanctions. The aircraft were obtained through a complex scheme involving a Gambian shell airline, a Turkish investor and a supposed sale to the United Arab Emirates.
The three widebodies, Belavia’s first, have been in Belarus since August 2024, when they flew to Minsk from Cairo, Egypt.
About the Author
Ricardo Meier
Creator of the website that started in 1996 as a magazine. He also writes on Brazilian websites AUTOO, MOTOO and MetrôCPTM.
