Russian Aeroflot sends its aircraft to Iran for repair for the first time

Aeroflot, Russia's largest air carrier, is forced to repair its aircraft in Iran due to Western sanctions.

On April 5, the national airline sent an aircraft from its fleet to Tehran for maintenance for the first time in history, RBC reports, citing sources close to the airline.

It is an Airbus A330-300 wide-body airliner with registration number RA-73700. It will be serviced by technical specialists of the largest Iranian carrier Mahan Air.

Previously, Aeroflot used the services of other providers, including Hong Kong-based HAECO. However, the United States and EU countries have banned the maintenance of Russian airlines' aircraft and the supply of spare parts in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine.

In order to obtain the parts necessary for maintenance, Aeroflot disassembled at least 25 of its planes: serviceable parts were removed from them to be reassembled on other planes instead of spare parts from manufacturers that refused to work with Russia.

In total, as of April 1, Aeroflot had 178 Airbus and Boeing aircraft. The owners of these planes demanded their return, but the airline registered the foreign planes domestically and continued to operate them.

Background. As a reminder, Airbus has announced that it will terminate relations with all companies that will service Russian aircraft.