Aeroflot Plots CFM56 Repair Shop In Moscow

The CEO of Russia’s largest airline company Aeroflot Group has shared plans to construct a new engine repair shop at its Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport base.

The new facility will repair CFM56 engines as well as Russia’s new powerplants, the PD-8 and PD-14, Aeroflot CEO Sergey Alexandrovsky told local newspaper Kommersant June 5.

Operations at the 28,000-ft.2 shop are scheduled to start in 2027 and will reach full capacity a year later.

“At full production capacity, the facility is expected to perform up to 70 overhauls of engines of various modifications per year,” Alexandrovsky said.

Aeroflot Group has already set up a new company, AeroTrustTechnik, to run the project. It will be independent from the group’s MRO arm, Aeroflot Technics, which provides line and base maintenance for the group’s fleet.

The total Russian-operated commercial fleet using CFM-powered engines amounts to almost 400 aircraft, including 196 Airbus and 194 Boeing jets. Many of those aircraft are with Aeroflot Group carriers: flag-carrier Aeroflot operates 52 A320s, 32 A321s and 37 737-800s; LCC subsidiary Pobeda has 42 737-800s; and regional operator Rossiya Airlines flies 16 A319s, seven A320s, 12 737-800 and two 737-900ERs.

To date, S7 Technics has had a local monopoly on CFM56 repairs. It introduced the capability to fix these engines in the second half of 2022, shortly after Russian carriers lost access to foreign MRO providers due to sanctions. S7 Technics sister company Berdsk Electromechanical Plant has learned how to restore burned and cracked blades for CFM56s.

AeroTrustTechnik’s expertise in repairing the Russian engines will support the introduction of PD-8-powered SJ-100 regional jets and PD-14-powered MC-21 narrowbody airliners into Aeroflot’s fleet. The first new Russian aircraft are expected to arrive in 2026.

According to Alexandrovsky, more than 90% of Aeroflot’s capital investments are aimed at sustaining the airworthiness of its existing fleet.