Maintenance and Modifications
Sanctions Force Russian Companies To Refurb Aging Airliners
Preowned Tupolev Tu-204 and Ilyushin Il-96 aircraft are now being sourced as bizjet replacements
Russian Business Aviation Exhibition at Moscow's Vnokovo Airport in September 2021.
As recently as September 2021 at the Russian Business Aviation Exhibition in Moscow, Western-made business jets were being marketed to Russian customers, but this stopped with the introduction of sanctions in 2022. (Image: AIN)

Russia’s business aviation sector is struggling to source and operate viable aircraft in the wake of international sanctions imposed more than 18 months ago. According to numerous Russian media reports, the shortage has intensified in recent months, prompting the industry to repurpose aging Soviet-era airliners into private jets, mainly to meet the needs of corporate flight departments.

Large Russian state-backed corporations, such as Gazprom, Rosneft, and Rostec, have operated large fleets of largely Western-made business aircraft, serving the extensive travel needs of their top managers. Now, due to sanctions covering the provision of maintenance services and parts, they have found it hard to keep these in service, and harder still to replace aircraft.