DALLAS — Due to ongoing Western sanctions, Russian flag carrier Aeroflot (SU) was forced to send an Airbus A330-300 for maintenance to Iran. This is the first time Russia has sent an aircraft to Iran for repairs. The operation will be done by the Iranian carrier, Mahan Air (W5).

Russian airframes are affected by EU and US sanctions that prohibit the sale of spare parts and equipment by Wester manufacturers to repair Russian-registered aircraft, which are banned from EU and US airspace. This left the Russian carrier no choice but to use spare parts from their grounded aircraft. Enter Iran and W5.

Back in July 2022, SU signed an agreement with W5 for equipment supply and parts for Russian aircraft. The French-built 11.5 years old Airbus A330-343, registered RA-73700 (previously VP-BNS), arrived in Teheran on April 5, 2023. The airframe was first flown on 28 September 2011. During its life, it wasn't taken by EgyptAir (MS).

Aeroflot leased the aircraft from BOC in 2017. It has two Rolls-Royce Trent 772B engines, a cabin layout of 32 business, and 265 economy class seats.

Aeroflot Fleet

Aeroflot was founded in 1923 with a hub in Moscow (SVO). The carrier is a part of Aeroflot Group.

The group has four subsidiaries, Aeroflot (SU), Pobeda (DP), Aurora (HZ), and Rossiya (FV). SU operates 158 aircraft, including Airbus A319s, A320s, A321s, A330s, A350s, Boeing 737s, 777s, and Sukhoi SuperJet 100s. By 2023, all of its aircraft were illegally reregistered to Russian registration, which is just a sticker above VP- or VQ- registrations.

According to Russian news outlet RBC, SU confirmed that W5 had "the necessary equipment and facilities, certificates and vast experience” for the maintenance work to be performed “to a high level of quality."

Featured image: Aeroflot Airbus 330 300 VQ-BMX sister to VP-BNS. Davide Calabresi/Airways