Airbus pulls out of Russia in another blow to country’s aviation industry

Airbus is the latest corporate giant to dump Russia, pledging on Wednesday to cease its support to the country’s aviation industry.

The move follows an announcement by rival plane-maker Boeing on Tuesday evening, which said it was suspending parts, maintenance and technical support to Russia following its full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.

Together with a complete closure of European airspace to Russian airlines, the country’s aviation industry is increasingly isolated.

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Airbus said on Wednesday it would stop supporting companies such as Aeroflot, the Russian flag carrier, which operates flights on a number of Airbus models including the A320, the A330, and the A350.

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“In line with international sanctions now in place, Airbus has suspended support services to Russian airlines, as well as the supply of spare parts to the country,” the European manufacturing giant said in a statement.

“Services provided by the Airbus Engineering Centre in Russia (ECAR) have also been suspended pending further review.”

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Companies cut ties with Russia

Airbus and Boeing are just the latest on an extensive list of companies that have cut ties with Russia in the past several days.

US oil titan ExxonMobil also pulled out of the country on Tuesday night, dropping $4bn in assets left in Russia, including a multi-billion dollar joint venture with Rosneft, an oil company controlled by the Russian state.

The move follows rival companies Shell and BP, who announced earlier this week that they would be dumping Russian investments.

Shell said on Monday that it would exit all of its joint ventures with state-owned Gazprom, worth some $3bn.

“We are shocked by the loss of life in Ukraine, which we deplore, resulting from a senseless act of military aggression which threatens European security,” said Shell’s chief executive officer, Ben van Beurden.

Meanwhile on Sunday, London-listed BP said it would offload its 19.75% stake in state-owned Russian company Rosneft “with immediate effect” following the invasion of Ukraine.

Read more: Which companies will be next to dump pariah state Russia?