You know times are tough when you’re sending your Airbus aircraft to Iran for maintenance…
In this post:
Aeroflot’s aircraft maintenance struggles
We’ve seen all kinds of sanctions puts in place as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Not only are Russian airlines banned from operating in the airspace of many countries, but there are also economic sanctions, preventing companies from the United States and the European Union from doing business with Russian companies.
This has posed a real challenge for Russian flag carrier Aeroflot. Airbus and Boeing are based in the European Union and the United States (respectively), and are by far the two largest aircraft manufacturers. As much as Russia is trying to revive its domestic aircraft manufacturing business, there’s still quite a ways to go.
On top of that, many aircraft leasing companies are based in the European Union and United States, so we’ve seen them repossess many jets from Russian airlines, as they’re no longer able to do business with these airlines.
Nonetheless Aeroflot is continuing to operate quite a few Airbus and Boeing jets, including some that the airline owns outright, and others that the airline essentially stole. Unfortunately for Aeroflot, continuing to maintain these jets is creating some new challenges.
Not only can Airbus and Boeing no longer deliver aircraft to Aeroflot, but they also can’t service these aircraft. As a result, Aeroflot is getting kind of desperate with its maintenance practices…
Aeroflot A330 flies to Tehran for maintenance
On April 5, 2023, Aeroflot sent an Airbus A330-300 with the registration code RA-73700 to Iran. Specifically, the roughly 11-year-old jet flew from Moscow (SVO) to Tehran (IKA) in a flight time of 3hr30min.
This is the first time that a Russia airline has sent a plane to Iran for maintenance, though it won’t be the last time. Iran is of course in a similar situation to Russia, given the sanctions it has faced for years.
Aeroflot’s maintenance is being performed by Mahan Air, Iran’s largest privately owned airline. An Aeroflot spokesperson has confirmed that Mahan Air has “the necessary equipment and facilities, certificates and vast experience” to perform this work, and maintenance will be performed “to a high level of quality.”
Indeed, Mahan Air does have “vast experience” with performing maintenance on Airbus and Boeing jets, given that the airline primarily flies these jets, despite sanctions. Heck, Mahan Air typically acquires planes by simply making them “disappear” over Iran. I’m not sure exactly which “certificates” the airline has, though, for performing maintenance on Airbus and Boeing jets? Never mind that one has to wonder where the spare parts are coming from…
I have to imagine that Russian airlines will increasingly have issues with keeping planes flying safely. We’ll probably see several more planes flown to Iran for maintenance, though I also suspect we’ll see more planes grounded over lack of airworthiness.
Bottom line
Given the sanctions in place against Aeroflot, the airline is now outsourcing some of its maintenance to Iran’s Mahan Air. An Airbus A330 has flown to Tehran, where an Iranian airline is handling maintenance. Mahan Air has a fair bit of experience with performing maintenance on Airbus and Boeing jets despite sanctions, so I imagine this won’t be the last time that we see this happen.
What do you make of Aeroflot sending its planes to Iran for maintenance?
Long live Putin! and btw Iran and Russia never stole any aircraft. We aren't desperate, we are winning
The Russians were warned repeatedly about punitive sanctions and Putin chose to ignore these warnings and go-ahead with his illegal, unprovoked and misguided fantasy of invading and annexing Ukraine. These Boeing & Airbus jets are likely already out of safety & maintenance compliance according to manufacturer's stipulations. Ordinary travelling Russians have only their Putin-led government to blame for the deterioration of these aircraft. It's symptomatic of an economy in decline and it's only going to...
The Russians were warned repeatedly about punitive sanctions and Putin chose to ignore these warnings and go-ahead with his illegal, unprovoked and misguided fantasy of invading and annexing Ukraine. These Boeing & Airbus jets are likely already out of safety & maintenance compliance according to manufacturer's stipulations. Ordinary travelling Russians have only their Putin-led government to blame for the deterioration of these aircraft. It's symptomatic of an economy in decline and it's only going to get worse until the Russian military is expelled from Ukraine and Putin + his cohort of war-mongers are thrown out and neutralised. Russian oligarchs have seen their wealth collapse and are actively working on Putin's demise. What is so sad is that millions of innocents are displaced and hundreds of thousands of soldiers are dying on both sides, all because of one person's misguided imperialist fantasies.
Wow, you are unhinged and woefully uninformed. You completely ignore the fact that the US supported a coup in Ukraine that massively destabilized the region and disenfranchised a very large percentage of Ukrainians. The government installed in Kiev were and still are extremely Russophobic and their rhetoric and actions pose a massive security risk to Russia. You also ignore the atrocities Ukraine has been committing against Russian-speaking Ukrainians since the coup, including targeting civilians in...
Wow, you are unhinged and woefully uninformed. You completely ignore the fact that the US supported a coup in Ukraine that massively destabilized the region and disenfranchised a very large percentage of Ukrainians. The government installed in Kiev were and still are extremely Russophobic and their rhetoric and actions pose a massive security risk to Russia. You also ignore the atrocities Ukraine has been committing against Russian-speaking Ukrainians since the coup, including targeting civilians in Donbass. Geez, look at the MANY photos of Ukrainian soldiers wearing Nazi insignia on their uniforms, and listen to the unhinged Ukrainian officials (such as that lunatic Melnik) calling for erasing anything Russian. Have you seen the massive bullying Ukraine does to anyone that doesn't follow their demands?! Moreover, did you miss Merkel basically admitting that the Minsk Agreements were meant to buy time, and that Ukraine never intended to follow them? Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, it seems that the US and NATO haven't stopped fighting the Cold War, expanding and encroaching on Russia's borders. Russia asked for, and failed to receive, security guarantees that would have averted this conflict. This conflict was desired by the US, and Taiwan should take Ukraine as a warning: the US will use a country to weaken a geopolitical rival without regard to the bloodshed and lives cost in that country. The US desperately trying to cling on to world hegemony is what led to this conflict, NOT "misguided imperialistic fantasies."
Coup? You mean a Democratic uprising. I know it’s a foreign concept to you as a Russian. They are different. Also, strange how all these disenfranchised people have been tricked into laying their lives on the line for their mother country Ukraine. Next you’ll be saying Nazis are running the country. People are informed. They’re just not buying your propaganda anymore. Gotta get more creative bud.
There all gonna come back full of drone's
What we need is for Trump to call Iran and tell them not to service Russian airliners. Iran will comply because Trump will tell them to. Simple.
The worlds population will soon learn what standard of maintenance is applied to this Russian fleet. Without doubt, air incidents & accidents will increase. It is well known that certain countries can reverse engineer but the processes & materials used often become the Achilles heel.
Iran' Mahan does not possess the modern airbus planes and therefore dont have the experience. What everyone seems to miss is that Iran is one of the leading nations in reverse engineering. Expect both Iran and Russia to somehow develop new flight technologies that are extremely similar to that of the Airbus.
That's not much of an impediment.
Mahan doesn't have the -NEO or A350, of which Aeroflot's fleet is small (less than 20combined) anyway.
But they've had A340s and A321s for quite some time, which are from the same vintage as the bulk of Aeroflot's Airbus fleet.
Sanctions don't work any more. Despite the sanctions Iran is producing Reaper drones.
Joe said we just need to give them time.
Azur Air is another Russian airline with maintenance problems. Last month one of their Boeing 767s engines caught fire as it was taking off from Phuket airport in Thailand.
I don't think Phuket has the facilities for changing engines so I suppose the aircraft is grounded at Phuket ad infinitum.
From a practical perspective, the Russians are probably smart to have the maintenance done in Iran, where keeping Airbus and Boeing jets in a relatively safe condition under sanction has been an art for the last 44 years.
This clearly shows significant desperation, however, as when Russia reenters the international community after Putin is gone, they will have major issues with restoring their carriers to a condition where they will be able to operate in...
From a practical perspective, the Russians are probably smart to have the maintenance done in Iran, where keeping Airbus and Boeing jets in a relatively safe condition under sanction has been an art for the last 44 years.
This clearly shows significant desperation, however, as when Russia reenters the international community after Putin is gone, they will have major issues with restoring their carriers to a condition where they will be able to operate in most airspace.
well put.
To hell with Russia.
Poorly kept maintenance records quickly make a $300MM airplane worth not more than the value of the scrap metal. I have to imagine all these planes are passed,, at, or approaching that point.
US sanctions and confiscates. Russia steals.
US brings democracy. Russia invades.
But no matter how much you spin things, US started more wars than any other country, fights wars non-stop, steals from dozens of countries at any given time.
Russia merely responded by keeping some planes that it still had under legal contract. That the White House ordered contracts to be breached is not a reason why Russia must go along with the...
US sanctions and confiscates. Russia steals.
US brings democracy. Russia invades.
But no matter how much you spin things, US started more wars than any other country, fights wars non-stop, steals from dozens of countries at any given time.
Russia merely responded by keeping some planes that it still had under legal contract. That the White House ordered contracts to be breached is not a reason why Russia must go along with the breach. The actual theft of planes took place when the US/West stole the brand new Russian airplanes that were set to be delivered, and instead resold them to Turkish Airways. By any means, that is theft. Russia refusing to go along with a breach of contract isn't theft.
As for the war, the US overthrew a Constitutionally elected govt in Ukraine in 2004 and then in 2014 in an attempt to have NATO surround Russia. Obviously Russia did not want to be surrounded and reacted the same way Washington would react if the Canadian border began one big Chinese military base. If you don't understand that this is the real reason for this war, you're too ignorant to discuss anything about this war.
One year and 1000s of deaths - Ukraine bombed and rocketed - looks like a robot comment ...
Oh honey. No one is buying this nonsense.
Curious Putin has chosen not to fly (or as little as possible) this past year. He prefers his specially built trains
Judging by the value Putin puts on life, it isn't at all surprising.
Surprised China didn’t welcome them with open arms
Guess who supplied the parts?
It's all about optics. It won't take long before the rest of the world 'woke' on this if SU sends their fleet to China.
Airbus assembly is a huge business in China, why 'officially' risk that.
It's a lot easier to lose some discarded 'airworthy' parts that looks like scraps to some junk dealer to move it around few places before ending up with Mahan.
Look through the propaganda from both sides.
To muddy the waters I suspect China uses a proxy country to supply parts, my guess Nigeria.
I will bet on Saudi, given the amounts of agreements signed recently between the two.
Just consider the fact many family members of Xi, China's dictator, has US green card/passport,
These 2 countries could participe in the modern world but oh no, western hegemony! Let's go mess up the lives of our own citizens instead. The self own is incredible
I'd say the current US administration is doing a fine job "messing up" the lives of its citizens.
Really ? did President Biden invade Ukraine ?....
No, but he never saw an US imperial invasion and meddling he did not like. As for the Ukraine, why risk your citizens when there are plenty of Ukrainian pawns available? Great place to test weapons and calibrate them for World War III the West desperately seeks.
I can only assume that you know how stupid your post is and that you are trolling. But just in case you are actually an idiot, the United States helping defend a sovereign democracy against invasion by a kleptocratic autocracy is a Just Cause, and it's sort of the thing that made us the leader of the free world in the past. I for one am glad we are getting back to our roots.
...I can only assume that you know how stupid your post is and that you are trolling. But just in case you are actually an idiot, the United States helping defend a sovereign democracy against invasion by a kleptocratic autocracy is a Just Cause, and it's sort of the thing that made us the leader of the free world in the past. I for one am glad we are getting back to our roots.
And screw Russia. They had a chance to join civilization after the fall of the Soviet Union like the Baltic republics did but decided to double down on backwards politics, corruption, and cyber warfare. The Russian people are deluded into thinking that they are some kind of superpower or chosen people. What a bunch of losers. Every one of my tax dollars going to Ukraine is well spent.
Are you a bot, or just a Putin apologist?
I’d say he’s just a luke-warm IQ moron who has never seen the inside of a university lecture theatre, and never will.
You cannot put brains in a monument.
@BradStPete
It was Hillary and Obama.
Leave Biden Trump or Putin out of this.
It was Obama who invaded Ukraine's domestic conflict by supporting to overthrow Yanukovych.
Or it could have been the late Bush who dissected Gorbachev.
Can't see the trend?
I remember when the sanctions started and some aviation "experts" said Aeroflot wouldn't be able to maintain their fleet for more than a few months.
Obviously, they were very wrong
@James S - I think there was a clear division between "western" experts and those who had more experience in the Middle East and Africa on this issue. These sanctions will come back and cause havoc in the secondary market for spares for years to come, as counterfeit paperwork, fabricated spares and falsified SV tags make their way through the system. Iran's fleet, with a few exceptions, has mostly been end of service life units...
@James S - I think there was a clear division between "western" experts and those who had more experience in the Middle East and Africa on this issue. These sanctions will come back and cause havoc in the secondary market for spares for years to come, as counterfeit paperwork, fabricated spares and falsified SV tags make their way through the system. Iran's fleet, with a few exceptions, has mostly been end of service life units whose aftermarket value was near zero. Russia on the other hand has a more modern fleet with higher demand components. It will not end well.
Think this could also be simply a "sale" made to Mahan or IranAir and plane will not return back to Russia!
I await all the calm and reasonable comments that are sure to follow.
Or would the Russians just signe those plane airworthiness until they crash or have serious accidents?
My fiancee had to go to Russia about one month ago for family reasons and to take a couple domestic flights (on Aeroflot). She said the planes were showing a lot of wear/tear and in dire need of updates. She also said SVO was incredibly depressing and like a ghost town, especially international terminal C, which had just been redone before the invasion. That terrific priority pass lounge was closed and locked.
Going to...
My fiancee had to go to Russia about one month ago for family reasons and to take a couple domestic flights (on Aeroflot). She said the planes were showing a lot of wear/tear and in dire need of updates. She also said SVO was incredibly depressing and like a ghost town, especially international terminal C, which had just been redone before the invasion. That terrific priority pass lounge was closed and locked.
Going to be quite a while before they get things back to the way they were, even after this war ends.
@pstm91 unfortunately, true. I'm American, but my daughter lives in Russia with my ex. I routinely (multiple times per month) go to Vladivostok to visit her or to pick her up to stay with me during holidays. Prior to COVID, I usually flew Korean Air through Seoul, but now it's basically impossible to fly to Vladivostok from an international point of origin (yes, there are limited options, but usually too expensive or too big of...
@pstm91 unfortunately, true. I'm American, but my daughter lives in Russia with my ex. I routinely (multiple times per month) go to Vladivostok to visit her or to pick her up to stay with me during holidays. Prior to COVID, I usually flew Korean Air through Seoul, but now it's basically impossible to fly to Vladivostok from an international point of origin (yes, there are limited options, but usually too expensive or too big of a hassle to bother with - like Uzbekistan Airways), so I fly through Moscow now. Sheremetyevo is indeed depressing compared to the past, as I've been flying through there since 2012 (over 60 visits to SVO). I noticed the 777 and 330 aircraft are significantly showing wear and tear, and now Aeroflot has recently started using their 350s on the Moscow-Vladivostok route. Of course, it's sad that Western countries have way over-reacted to a conflict that the US essentially provoked via its meddling, all while turning a blind eye to the atrocities Ukraine has been committing since 2014. It all boils down to politics, and Ukraine is the perfect example of what being "friends" with the US can lead to - the US using your blood to provoke and attempt to weaken anyone they see as a potential threat to their hegemony. Taiwan should tread carefully, as they seem to be the next small country the US will use to try to draw a geopolitical opponent into a conflict.
That was an abrupt and dramatic turn away from your aviation point.
but, a very relevant one, as the aviation point is a direct result of the political one.