The engine life of three Canadian DHC-6 aircraft, which carry out most of the domestic passenger traffic in Primorsky Krai, will end this year. This is reported by RBC, having read the letter of the Minister of Transport of the region Alexei Ignatenko, its authenticity was confirmed to the publication by a source close to the administration of Primorye.
As follows from a letter sent to the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East back in November, after the engines run out, the aircraft cannot be used without repair. And repairing them is problematic because of the sanctions. The minister wrote that by 2024, Primorye needed six Baikal aircraft to provide passenger transportation within the region, but so far the Ural Civil Aviation Plant (UZGA), which produces these aircraft, has promised only five, and only by 2030.
The number of flights operated by DHC-6 of the regional airline Aurora has already halved, Yevgeny Timonov, Deputy Minister of Transport and Roads of the Primorsky Territory, told RBC. He also said that now the regional government is looking for a foreign company that can repair the engines of Canadian aircraft.
An anonymous aviation expert, in an interview with The Insider, said that it was quite possible to find a company abroad that would undertake to repair the Aurora-owned DHC-6s. In his opinion, most likely, help will be found in Africa or Latin America, where "a huge number of such aircraft are operated."
At the same time, the expert admitted that under the sanctions, repairs would be too expensive, so the airline would prefer to abandon the operation of the DHC-6 and use helicopters for passenger transportation over short distances.
The 19-seat DHC-6 aircraft, manufactured by the Canadian company De Havilland Aircraft, are equipped with PT6A turboprop engines, also made in Canada. Economic sanctions imposed on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine prohibit the supply of aircraft and components to the country, as well as the provision of services for the repair of existing aircraft.
Three DHC-6s were purchased by the Primorye authorities in 2014. Another six such machines serve other regions of the Far East.
Serial production of light aircraft LMS-901 "Baikal", developed by UZGA, should begin in 2024. According to Kommersant, on January 12, the company signed an agreement of intent with the Aerokhimflot aviation alliance, according to which the plant undertakes to supply 120 such aircraft in the period from 2026 to 2030.