In 2024, Russian airlines were forced to decommission 58 aircraft, according to Dmitry Yadrov, head of the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya). This was due to aviation incidents and the inability to repair the aircraft. Currently, airlines have 1,138 planes and 920 helicopters in their fleet, Yadrov added.
Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian civil aviation faced severe sanctions. The US, EU, and other countries banned the supply of spare parts and ready-made aircraft to Russia, while Boeing and Airbus ceased technical support for existing planes. As a result, aircraft were left without regular inspections—C Checks, conducted every 1.5–2 years, and more in-depth D Checks, scheduled every 6–12 years. Russian carriers had to repair Western-made aircraft themselves, often resorting to "cannibalization"—dismantling one aircraft for spare parts to fix another. Additionally, two-thirds of the Russian airline fleet consists of foreign planes, which account for 90% of domestic passenger traffic. Another 150 aircraft are SSJ-100s, which also heavily rely on Western components.
This year may be the last for the operation of most foreign-made aircraft in Russia, said an aviation safety expert in an interview with Radio Free Europe.
"Both foreign planes and 'Superjets' will eventually be grounded due to the lack of components. The 'Superjets' will last about one year longer," the expert noted. Consulting firm Oliver Wyman also predicted that by 2026, the Russian airline fleet could shrink by more than half.
The rapid wear and tear of aircraft is evidenced by the explosive increase in aviation incidents. In 2025, at least 10 Russian planes made emergency landings due to various malfunctions during flights. Moreover, there were 208 aviation incidents in Russia in the first 11 months of 2024, a 25% increase from 2023, according to Novaya Gazeta Europe. Almost half of the incidents were related to engine failure or landing gear malfunctions. The series of malfunctions is expected to continue, and the number of cases will rise, said Lee Walker, an expert at the Berkeley Risk and Security Lab. She does not rule out that the scale of the problem is "larger than reported."
In response to sanctions on civil aviation, Russian authorities announced an ambitious program to revive the domestic aircraft industry. The plan was to supply airlines with over 1,000 domestically made aircraft by 2030. However, in three years of war, aircraft factories have produced only five planes—three Tu-214s and two Il-96-300s, according to Kommersant. In early 2025, the government reduced the aircraft production target by 1.5 times.
