Short of planes, Russia asks Central Asian airlines to run domestic flights

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By Gleb Stolyarov

(Reuters) – Facing a shortage of planes due to Western sanctions, Russia is in talks with some Central Asian countries for their airlines to run domestic flights and help meet a pick up in travel demand.

Russian airlines, which use many Western aircraft delivered before the war in Ukraine, are struggling to meet growing demand for air travel as sanctions hinder access to parts and domestic production takes time to ramp up.

Transport Minister Roman Starovoit said last week Russia was in talks with so-called “friendly” countries, including Kazakhstan, about foreign airlines operating domestic flights, Russian news agencies reported.

Russia has also approached Uzbekistan, which is considering the proposal, an Uzbek government source told Reuters.

“To date, there has been no official request from the Russian side on the issue,” Kazakhstan’s transport ministry said. Tajik and Krygyz authorities also said they had not received any official requests. Uzbekistan’s transport ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

SANCTIONS RISK

Artem Zhavoronkov, a partner at Russian law firm Nordic Star, said Central Asian airlines were unlikely to want to risk running Russian domestic flights as that might lead to them in turn facing Western sanctions.

“This is a serious risk and hardly any large companies from neighbouring countries will be prepared to accept it,” Zhavoronkov said.

Russian airlines saw passenger numbers drop 14.7% to 94.7 million in 2022 as the Western sanctions hit and much of Europe closed its airspace to them.

After a 11.3% rebound in 2023, passenger numbers are on track to jump again this year, according to data from Rosaviatsia, Russia’s civil aviation watchdog.

Moscow plans to supply Russian airlines with up to 1,000 domestically-made aircraft by 2030, but production launches are being constantly postponed.

Sergei Chemezov, head of state conglomerate Rostec, on Wednesday told parliament that mass production of the MS-21 aircraft and the Superjet New would start in 2025 and 2026, respectively.

Russian rules currently only allow foreign airlines to fly between Russian cities and airports abroad. An airline industry source said foreign airlines may struggle to secure approval from lessors and insurers even if the rules are updated.

Kazakhstan’s transport ministry said it was focused on meeting rising demand at home, where passenger traffic is up about 15% from last year.