newstodate.aero
Mar 12, 2025 (newstodate): What can you do when a crucial aircraft type is running out of service life - and there is no modern substitute in the market?
In today's Russia, the answer is: prolong the lifetime!
As a result, Rosaviatsiya's subsidiary, GosNII GA, has ordered certification work to extend the service life of An-26 turboprop aircraft from 50 to 60 years, and the life extension work is expected to be completed by January 26, 2028.
According to Rosaviatsia, 11 Russian airlines today operate 26 An-26-100 aircraft and 13 An-26 cargo aircraft.
Barred from import of western-built aircraft and spares, Russia's airlines were aleqady in 2023 fighting hard to keep fleets in the air.
One issue was the airworthiness of the regional airlines' fleets of aging AN-24 and AN-26 aircraft.
First flown in 1959, the An-24 was produced in some 1,000 units of various versions; in 2023 there are 93 still in service worldwide, mostly in the CIS and Africa, and the AN-26, first introduced in 1970, was produced in 1,403 units.
-Today, there are about 150 domestic regional aircraft, of which 95-98 are An-24 and An-26 with a production date of 1962 and an average age of 50 years, said Sergei Zorin, First Deputy General Director of Eastland Group of Companies LLC, at a round-table aviation conference in 2023.
-From the report of the State Research Institute of Civil Aviation it follows that by 2030 a quarter of these aircraft will have been written off - in fact, in our opinion, the shutdown of this fleet will occur much earlier, namely from 2028, Zorin said.
In today's Russia, the answer is: prolong the lifetime!
As a result, Rosaviatsiya's subsidiary, GosNII GA, has ordered certification work to extend the service life of An-26 turboprop aircraft from 50 to 60 years, and the life extension work is expected to be completed by January 26, 2028.
According to Rosaviatsia, 11 Russian airlines today operate 26 An-26-100 aircraft and 13 An-26 cargo aircraft.
Barred from import of western-built aircraft and spares, Russia's airlines were aleqady in 2023 fighting hard to keep fleets in the air.
One issue was the airworthiness of the regional airlines' fleets of aging AN-24 and AN-26 aircraft.
First flown in 1959, the An-24 was produced in some 1,000 units of various versions; in 2023 there are 93 still in service worldwide, mostly in the CIS and Africa, and the AN-26, first introduced in 1970, was produced in 1,403 units.
-Today, there are about 150 domestic regional aircraft, of which 95-98 are An-24 and An-26 with a production date of 1962 and an average age of 50 years, said Sergei Zorin, First Deputy General Director of Eastland Group of Companies LLC, at a round-table aviation conference in 2023.
-From the report of the State Research Institute of Civil Aviation it follows that by 2030 a quarter of these aircraft will have been written off - in fact, in our opinion, the shutdown of this fleet will occur much earlier, namely from 2028, Zorin said.