This summer, 130 of 673 aircraft at 11 Russian airlines that account for more than 90% of passenger traffic are not in operation. That equals 19.3% of the total fleet, according to calculations by Kommersant.
The largest fleet belongs to the Aeroflot Group, which has 349 aircraft. Of those, 37 planes are not flying, or about 10%. Experts cited by the newspaper say that level is considered normal for the industry.
The picture is significantly worse at the other airlines combined: 93 of 322 aircraft are idle, or close to one-third of their fleets. The biggest number of grounded planes is at the largest private airline, S7, where 33 of 104 aircraft are not flying. The report says this is mainly due to engine problems.
The best situation is at Pobeda, which is operating all of its 42 Boeing 737s during the summer with no idle aircraft.
Kommersant says the main reason for the downtime is prolonged maintenance. At the same time, experts interviewed by the paper note that for an aviation sector that has been under sanctions for nearly five years, a share of idle aircraft approaching one-third at the largest carriers is still “not a bad indicator.”
The experts quoted by the newspaper warn that the situation could worsen because of aging aircraft and the depletion of available resources.