As a result, the airline has transferred its production facilities and human resources to A-Technics, a Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) provider. This move highlights Russia's desire to keep these Western-made airplanes in its possession for an extended period.
From July 2022, Aeroflot started moving its line stations, maintenance facilities, and MRO component, a month after A-Technics was granted a certificate for designing and producing aircraft parts from the Russian aviation regulator Rosaviatsiya.
Towards the end of September, the certification was expanded by the Russian authorities, which enables A-Technics to create and approve documentation for repairing the structural components of aircraft made by Western manufacturers.
The parts in question refer to air conditioning systems, lighting equipment, windows, doors, braking systems, thrust reversers, the external skin of the fuselage, and aerodynamic coverings.
Additionally, the company received permission to create documentation for the production and modification of level III components, which include certain areas of the airplane, such as the galleys, passenger compartments, and the cockpit.
In addition to impacting the aftermarket revenue of Airbus and Boeing, the use of parts that are not approved by the original manufacturers on these airplanes, which Russia has effectively seized since the imposition of sanctions, severely diminishes the value of the aircraft. Russia's irrelevant policy makes those planes non-compliant with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards and effectively renders them unusable outside of Russia.
At its assembly in October, ICAO passed a resolution vehemently condemning Russia's violations of the Convention on International Civil Aviation. Specifically, it criticized Russia's decision to register airplanes, most of which are owned by Western lessors and banks, under its own civil aviation register, thereby allowing them to be operated without valid airworthiness certificates.
During a meeting held in October, the ICAO passed a resolution that strongly criticized Russia for breaking the Convention on International Civil Aviation. Specifically, it criticized Russia for registering airplanes, most of which are owned by Western lessors and banks, under its own civil aviation register. This allows these airplanes to be operated without valid airworthiness certificates.
There is currently no system in place at the international level to track or enforce regulations on the manufacturing and distribution of counterfeit parts.
