Flying on Russian planes is about to get much more dangerous

Russian airlines have been essentially “These are western jets. I’m not sure how Chinese firms will treat the sanctions,” he said. “And the more important thing is these jets won’t be supported with parts and maintenance any longer. It’s a real issue if they lose their certificates of airworthiness, which can happen if proper records aren’t kept, or especially if they’re cannibalized for parts.”China has already indicated it won’t ship parts for those planes to Russia, according to a report on Russian news agency TASS which quoted Valery Kudinov, head of the aircraft airworthiness department at the country’s Federal Air Transport Agency.Russia to fight efforts to repossess jetsRussia announced plans for a new law Thursday that would block those planes from leaving the country. But that would set up a situation wherein its airlines will have trouble leasing planes in the future, even after the sanctions end.”The Russian airlines want to do business with the leasing companies. They suspect when all is said and done that they’ll need airplanes in the future,” said Betsy Snyder, credit analyst with Standard & Poor’s who follows aircraft leasing companies. “But they’re being told by the powers that be in Russia not to do that.”It is much easier for the global aviation industry to live without Russia, which accounts for only about 1% of total commercial jet purchases, than it will be for Russia to live without US and EU aircrafts or parts. Russia’s attempts to build its own commercial jets have produced aircraft of questionable safety which have found no buyers on the international market.Can a country as large as Russia live without a modern, viable airline industry?”That’s a thesis that has never been put to the test,” Aboulafia said. “But it’s about to be.”