By Antonia Langford

Copyright kyivpost

Russia is calling on aviation leaders meeting this week in Montreal to lift sanctions on aircraft spare parts and overflight restrictions citing flight safety concerns, according to a report by Reuters.

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western sanctions have severed Russia’s access to foreign-built aircraft and spare parts.

This has forced Russian airlines to maintain a fleet of some 700 mostly Airbus and Boeing jets through complex and indirect import channels or by “cannibalizing” other planes — using parts from some aircraft to repair others.

Now Moscow is stepping up efforts to seek relief from sanctions amid growing concerns that flight safety may be at risk as its fleet of Western-made aircraft deteriorates.

Kremlin authorities are trying to negotiate the sanctions relief with regulators and other delegates at the triennial assembly of the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) opening on Tuesday, Reuters writes, citing working papers and a source familiar with the matter.

In a paper seen by the agency, Russia argued to the ICAO that aviation sanctions transgress global rules. “Unlawful coercive measures violate the human right to freedom of movement regardless of nationality and citizenship,” the paper read.

“The ICAO is required to take all practical measures to prevent states from applying politically biased discriminatory and coercive measures in the field of international civil aviation,” it continued.

Other documents criticize the closure of 37 states’ airspace to flight operations of Russian airlines as well as bans on aircraft maintenance and insurance.

Russia is also reportedly trying to gain election to ICAO’s 36-state governing council despite opposition.

A Russian aviation source told Reuters that there is a risk that a significant number of Russia’s Western-made Boeing and Airbus planes could be forced out of service as the fleet continues to age and key components remain out of reach.

“If in the near future a Russian Boeing or Airbus crashes and people die – what then? In any case, it will be blamed on sanctions,” the source said.

Russian airlines depend on convoluted parallel import networks to obtain spare parts, but this workaround has led to frequent technical issues across the sector, highlighting the growing strain on fleet maintenance as a result of sanctions.

2024 saw a six-year high in the number of aviation incidents recorded in Russia after it was handed with a “red flag” designation indicating a low level of flight safety by the ICAO.

The news came as Politico reported on Sept. 22 that the US is working to ensure that Donald Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on Belarusian flag carrier Belavia doesn’t become a backdoor for critical aviation spare parts to reach Russian airlines.

Washington will permit the sale of parts to Belavia, but wants to block the carrier from continuing to fly to Russia after a deal finalized between the US and Belarus on Sept. 11.

On Sept. 12, The US Department of Commerce reportedly sent a letter to Igor Nikolaevich Cherginets, the general director of Belavia, outlining conditions the airline must meet to regain access to spare parts for its fleet of 16 aircraft.

“This authorization does not permit flights to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, the Temporarily Occupied Crimea Region of Ukraine or the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic or Luhansk People’s Republic regions of Ukraine,” the document is said to have read, referring to the export of spare parts.

Politico also reported that the US decision to lift sanctions on Belavia has created a potential rift with the European Union due to the risk that aircraft components made in the US could reach Russian airlines in dire need of maintenance, reducing the leverage Western allies have over Moscow.

Russia’s travel and aviation sectors have also taken hits from Ukrainian drone attacks, which have caused widespread disruption at airports across the country, grounding flights and suspending operations.

In July, at least one formally operating Russian airport was shut down temporarily almost every day of the month. Flight restrictions have been imposed hundreds of times since the beginning of this year.