The Russian airline Yakutia began the cannibalization of Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) aircraft – due to a lack of foreign parts, two of the four aircraft in the series had to be dismantled for spare parts. Vedomosti writes about this with reference to sources close to the State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK) and the expert community.
The dismantling of the sides for spare parts became known only during the extraordinary monitoring of the condition of the vessels, which was carried out by the STLC. During the audit, the company found out that two aircraft have been standing for more than a year and are being dismantled for spare parts – they are “in a dismantled state”.
“The planes lack marching power plants and a number of other key units,” one of the sources of the publication said, noting that the planes have been in this state for more than a year.
Based on the results of the audit, STLC turned to the manufacturer – the Irkut company (part of the United Aircraft Building Company (UAC)) and the United Engine Corporation (UEC) for an expert assessment on the repair of the sides. However, both companies admitted that repairs were not possible due to Western sanctions, as the Russian-French joint venture PowerJet stopped manufacturing and servicing the SaM146 engines for the SSJ100 back in March. At the same time, the Russian analogue of the engine should not be expected before 2024. The domestic analogue of the PD-8 produced by UEC-Saturn should be certified only in December 2023.
The owner of the ships – STLC – intends to remove them from the park "Yakutia". The airline's partners believe that it was careless about the ships and neglected maintenance. Sources of the publication claim that the airline has similar problems with respect to foreign ships. In addition to 5 SSJ-100s (one leased from VEB-Leasing), the airline's fleet also has 6 Boeings (three 737-700s and 737-800s each) and 4 Bombardier Dash 8-Q300 aircraft.
Unsatisfactory handling of aircraft, coupled with a debt to STLC in the amount of 1.6 billion rubles, will apparently cause the termination of the leasing agreement with Yakutia, while the aircraft will be returned to the lessor, who will be able to find new buyers for them. The publication notes that Iraero, Azimut and Red Wings have previously shown interest in aircraft.
The Russian aviation industry was in a dire state as a result of the war with Ukraine. The sanctions that followed the invasion effectively locked foreign aircraft leased by Russian companies inside Russia – foreign owners of the vessels demand their return at the threat of ships. The support and maintenance of the aircraft turned out to be in question, and not only the "majors" Boeing and Airbus, but even conditionally Russian aircraft, such as the Superjet, faced such problems due to their high dependence on imported parts.