The French aircraft construction concern Airbus is going to refuse cooperation with the Russian corporation Irkut, which is engaged in the supply of parts for narrow-bodied A320 aircraft. Disagreements lie solely in the economic plane: the parties can not agree on the price. However, the reason for the cooling was the anti-Russian sanctions.
An unnamed representative of Irkut told reporters that in January the French announced that this year they had half the sets of parts than they had a year earlier - 72 instead of almost 150. The contract for 2018 g. Was generally in jeopardy, as foreigners demanded a significant reduction in the price of components, reports L! FE.
The company did not announce specific figures. It is also not reported whether Airbus has an alternative supplier of spare parts in case if the cooperation with the Russian enterprise is terminated.
Airbus and Irkut cooperate since December 2004. Then the Russian aircraft building corporation received from the French a large package of orders for the supply of niches for the front landing gear of chassis, guide flaps and keel beams. The first set of niches was handed over to the customer in 2007. Since 2009 year. "Irkut" supplies these components to the company Aerolla, which produces the nose section of the fuselage A320. In 2013 year. The Russian company reported on the transfer to the customer of the 500th set of niches for the A320.
After the start of the sanctions war and political cooling between the EU and Russia, cooperation began to curtail. Last year, the contract between Airbus and Irkut amounted to only $ 7 million.
In December last year, Irkut and Airbus liquidated the joint venture EADS Irkut Seaplane, created to promote abroad Be-200 amphibian aircraft. In it "Irkut" owned 70% of the shares. The joint company for 15 years was supposed to convert not less than 400 aircraft of the A320 / A321 family into a cargo version. However, Europeans miscalculated with the market, in 2014. Work on the project was frozen, and in 2016 the company was closed. The losses of the Russian side because of this amounted to about $ 50 million.
According to experts, problems with the re-signing of the contract for the supply of components for the A320, even in the worst case scenario, will not hit the Russian enterprise. Irkut enlisted state support in the amount of 12.7 billion rubles for the creation of the aircraft MS-21.
MS-21 is the priority project for Irkut. The prototype first flew into the air on May 28, 2017. The portfolio of orders for the aircraft of the MS-21 family is already 285 cars. Of these, 175 fixed-wing aircraft are subject to firm orders. The largest payer is Aeroflot, which ordered 50 MS-21. By 2020, according to the plan, Irkut will launch 20 aircraft per year, by 2023 - by 70.
The creators of the liner intend to challenge the products of the world's giants - Boeing and Airbus. Experts say that in many respects Russian planes outperform Western competitors.
It is noteworthy that the Airbus will not become "less Russian" even if the Irkut parts are refused,. Thus, the Russian company VASO produces components of engine pylons for the A320 family. VSMPO-AVISMA produces the main chassis racks for the A350 and A380. The same company produces 60% of titanium parts for all "airbuses".