Rossiya Airlines wins approval for heavy checks on A320s

In the last three years, Rossiya Airlines' in-house maintenance base has completed 35 C-checks (Leonid Faerberg / Transport-Photo)

Adding to its capabilities in the field of maintenance and repair of western-built jet aircraft, Rossiya Airlines, which is part of Aeroflot Group, has won approval to perform heavy maintenance checks on Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft. The St Petersburg-based carrier’s technical department has now been endorsed to perform six- and 12-year (6Y/12Y) checks on the European-built narrow-body airliners it operates.

Rossiya Airlines’ MRO strategy is an intriguing contrast to the approach taken by some of the region’s competitor airlines that have been outsourcing their fleet maintenance requirements to independent providers. Meanwhile, along with the active progressive development of the MRO service industry in Russia and the CIS, all major airlines in the region are striving to expand their own in-house maintenance capabilities.

Rossiya’s technical department, known as DATO (departament aviatsionno-tehnicheskogo obespechehiya), embarked on its first D-сheck on one of the airline’s A319s on October 7 at its St Peterburg Pulkovo airport base after obtaining audited approval from Bermuda’s aviation authorities. To add the latest capability to its OTAR 145 certificate, the airline has also been required to purchase the relevant specialist tools and ground equipment. A D-check takes more than four weeks to inspect and test all of the aircraft’s units, change components where necessary and modify systems. The works require the complete removal of the cabin interior and engines.

Rossiya performed its first A319 C-check in October 2015 and in the past three years has completed 35 such reconditions on A320 family aircraft. Its target for 2019 is six 6Y/12Y сhecks.

Rossiya Airlines currently has 26 A319s and five A320s in its fleet, along with Boeing aircraft.