Russia may continue safe operation of Boeing, Airbus aircraft for another 5 years - Deputy PM Borisov

ST. PETERSBURG. June 17 (Interfax) - Russia may continue safely operating Boeing and Airbus aircraft for five years amid the sanctions, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov said, citing the Transport Ministry's estimates.

"The Airbus and Boeing fleet currently listed in the Russian register provides domestic transportation - we cannot fly there [abroad]. Naturally, there is an issue of safe operation of these aircraft during this period. I believe we will be using parallel imports and Russian industries may produce something, too," Borisov said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 television channel (VGTRK).

"Clearly, it will not be able to reproduce everything: we have neither the technical nor technological documentation. So, we are likely to remove certain component parts as the fleet degradation begins, and we need to keep this in mind," Borisov said.

"The Transport Ministry's estimates indicate that we can continue to operate this fleet for five years. I think that the Russian aircraft industry must begin serial deliveries within this period to guarantee all types of transportation, both for passengers and cargo, inside the country," he said.

Western countries stopped the delivery of civilian planes and their component parts to Russia and compelled their lessors to withdraw the aircraft leased by Russia as the Russian special military operation in Ukraine began.