Ural Airlines’ operational performance affected by A320neo groundings

:: Ural Airlines

One of Russia’s largest privately-owned carriers, Ural Airlines, has seen its traffic decline due to, in part, challenges associated with continued airworthiness of its Airbus A320neo aircraft, the airline mentioned in its 1H 2025 financial report.

In said period Ural Airlines carried 3.97 million passengers, down seven per cent on the same months of 2024. The airline’s market share in Russia’s total passenger traffic has also shrunk to 7.7 per cent. The carrier however has retained its status of Russia’s fifth largest airline by traffic, outperformed by state-run Aeroflot with its sister airlines Pobeda and Rossiya, as well as privately held S7 Airlines, according to the country’s aviation authority Rosaviatsiya.

As of June 2025, Ural Airlines’ Air Operator Certificate (AOC) listed three A320neos and eight larger A321neos – same number, as the year before. These make up one fifth of the airline’s total fleet consisting exclusively of Airbus narrow-bodies.

Ural Airlines is the second carrier in Russia, whose operational performance has been affected by A320neo technical issues, after S7 Airlines. The latter’s traffic reduced by 19 per cent in 2024 due to similar problems. To make matters worse, its aircraft are fitted with PW1100G geared-turbofan engines, which have caused operators more headaches than the LEAP-1A, which power Ural Airlines’ aircraft.

In Russia, A320neo with LEAP-1A engines are also operated by Aeroflot (eight aircraft) North-West Airlines (three) Smartavia (two) and Nordwind (two).