Transportation watchdog says more than 2,000 flights were conducted by planes with expired parts in Russia last year

In 2022, more than 2,000 flights in Russia were conducted using planes equipped with expired parts as a result of Western sanctions, the head of the country’s transportation watchdog, Viktor Basargin, said at a State Duma committee meeting on Tuesday.

According to Basargin, the agency conducted unplanned inspections in hundreds of companies and found that transport operators using Western equipment were experiencing a “shortage of component parts” and “problems with supplies of consumable materials.”

“Certain items are just impossible to deliver,” he told lawmakers. “As a result, there have been numerous cases of aircraft being operated with violations that directly affect flight safety.” Basargin didn’t specify whether he was referring to commercial air travel or to all types of flights.

Commenting on Basargin’s statements, Russia’s Transport Ministry told journalists that “the risk assessment methods used by the Federal Air Transport Agency and the ones used by [federal transportation watchdog] Rostransnadzor differ, and such assessments require clarification through annual analysis, as well as the relevance and application of this data to mainline aviation.”

Employees of Russia’s major airlines have denied that the companies operate flights with expired parts.