On Tuesday, the top aviation safety regulator of the European Union said that he is extremely concerned about the safety of Western-made aircraft flying in Russia without access to replacement parts or regular maintenance.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Union and the United States have taken steps to limit Russia’s access to replacement parts. Russia refers to its operations in Ukraine as a ‘special operation.’
“This is very dangerous,” executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Patrick Ky, told reporters on the sidelines of a conference, adding that regulators lack good data on many of the planes flying in Russia and do not know if any have experienced safety issues in recent months.
Ky stated that requests for exemptions from Russia should be considered ‘on a case-by-case basis, what would be the justification, why do you absolutely need to operate this sort of aircraft.’
Ky went on to say that he was in support of reconsidering certain cases if they were required “for humanitarian grounds… but it should not become the standard.”
According to Ky, the hazards increase over time. ‘Who knows what will happen in six months? Who knows what will happen in a year?’ He stated that there have been claims that Russia will be obliged to cannibalise planes in order to keep others flying.
Boeing Co and Airbus SE announced in early March that they would no longer supply spare parts to Russian airlines.
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