Shipping rates are rising again in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while the inability of Russian-owned freighters to operate as usual takes significant capacity out of the market.
New imagery from Ukraine suggests the only example of the world’s largest aircraft, the Antonov An-225, was badly damaged during fighting at the company’s airfield at Hostomel, near Kyiv.
Japan’s major airlines are canceling most of their flights to Europe due to the war in Ukraine, yet Korean Air’s Moscow flights are operating as normal for now and the carrier’s European services continue to overfly Russia.
Aircraft Industries, the Czech manufacturer of the Let family of turboprop transport aircraft, says in an open letter that its ownership by Russian holding group Ural Mining Metallurgical Company (UGMK) “is likely to change a lot for us as a company, but we ourselves do not know what the consequences will be.”
Days after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his nuclear forces to be on a special alert, the Pentagon announced it has postponed a test of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from this coming weekend to try to lower tensions.
As airspace over Russia and Ukraine is effectively closed, except for domestic flights in the former, the most immediate consequence of the war for airlines is the impact on carriers’ flight operations.
Use of Russia’s largest commercial space contract may be halted, with Russian State Space Corp. Roscosmos requesting legally binding guarantees from the OneWeb satellite operator and the French Arianespace launch provider that the constellation, deployed by Russian Soyuz 2 rockets, will not be used for military purposes.
European Union plans to transfer Warsaw Pact-era combat aircraft to Ukraine appear to have faltered after the Eastern European governments operating them said they would not be handing over the aircraft.
Airlines forced to cancel operations through Russian airspace connecting Europe and Asia are generally re-routing south, but the old Arctic route via Anchorage has become of interest again.
Despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine adding to a panoply of issues facing the aerospace industry, executives from Boeing and Airbus told the Aviation Week Raw Materials and Manufacturers Supply Chain Conference that the OEMs were standing firm on planned airliner production rate ramps.
Sanctions targeting Russia’s airlines and broader economy will disrupt one of the strongest post-downturn domestic-market recoveries and put much of its international flying at immediate risk.
A webinar presented by aviation analytics company IBA on March 1 summarized some of the effects of the Ukraine-Russia crisis as can be ascertained so far.
Russia’s forces appear to be reassessing their approach and changing tactics as they advance into Ukraine from the north toward Kyiv, the Pentagon said March 1 in its latest assessment of the invasion.
Boeing has suspended support of Russian airlines operating its products, including spare parts sales and engineering services, adding to previously announced pauses affecting its Russian and Ukrainian operations.
