Kommersant: Russian airports to examine luggage manually over outdated machinery

The Russian Airport Association has addressed the Ministry of Transportation, requesting to extend the working lifespan for luggage examination machinery, Kommersant cites the association’s letter.

The luggage examination equipment installed in most of the Russian airports is nearing the end of its working lifespan. The machinery cannot be replaced due to sanctions, says Kommersant.

“The airport personnel will have to examine luggage manually. This will result in hours-long queues and may cause unintentional mistakes,” reads the address.

The working lifespan of luggage examination equipment is ten years. It is illegal to use outdated equipment under Russian law.

The airports hope that new equipment can possibly be imported from Belarus or China in the future. “The outdated machinery may be replaced by domestic equipment or imported from China or Belarus,” says the public affairs office at Saint Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport.

“90% of the Russian airports are equipped with machinery from the US, the UK, Germany or Finland,” reads the address. The Western suppliers have not terminated their contracts with Russian airports, but some of them have suspended their business in Russia, refusing to deliver prepaid orders, say sources in several Russian airports.

The EU countries imposed numerous sanctions on Russian aviation after Russia invaded Ukraine. They banned new deliveries of spare parts, as well as maintenance, support and insurance of Russian aircraft in late February. In addition, Europe closed its airspace for Russian airlines.