It is reported by RBC. "This means that all aircraft of the An-24 and An-26 type, available in Russian airlines, will stop in a maximum of five to six months," Yuri Lapin, general director of the IrAero airline, warned in a letter to the authorities. The Rostov plant will stop repairing engines for the An-24 and An-26 on March 31, a source at the enterprise said. According to him, this information has been communicated to all airlines flying An-24 and An-26. Each An-24/26 is equipped with two Ukrainian-made AI-24 turboprop engines. The Rostov plant annually repaired about 60 engines, RBC's interlocutor said.
He explains the closure of production by the decision of the owner, the Agrocom group, Ivan Savvidi, and the cessation of work in 2017 of the old civil airport in Rostov, which is why the plant stopped accepting aircraft for repairs. An-24/26 aircraft, designed to carry cargo and passengers (up to 52 people), were produced until the mid-1980s.
As I wrote earlier, Russia broke off an agreement with Bermuda on the certification of its aircraft. As a result, they will be responsible for flight safety on their own, while without maintenance they have no such opportunity.
Russia operates 100 An-24/26 aircraft, of which 87 are operated by 12 commercial airlines from ten regions. Among them are Yakutia, Komi, Kamchatka, Chukotka, Magadan and Irkutsk regions, Khabarovsk Territory, etc. In the regions where these aircraft fly, there are neither railways nor conventional paved roads. An indirect confirmation of the indispensability of these aircraft is the extension of their service life from 50 to 60 years (for the An-24) and from 40 to 50 years (for the An-26), and a further extension is being discussed, said Oleg Panteleev, executive director of the Aviaport branch agency.
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