The European aeronautical giant, Airbus, said on Friday "to analyze the impact of the sanctions announced overnight".

“We will comply with all applicable sanctions and laws as they come into effect,” the aircraft manufacturer said.

The European Council decided on Thursday evening to ban the export to Russia of aircraft, parts and equipment from the aeronautics and space industry.

Some 340 Airbus planes are currently in service in Russia, according to the aircraft manufacturer, in particular within the national carrier Aeroflot and the companies S7, Rossiya or Ural Airlines.

But he only has a limited number of planes ordered by Russian companies in his book: 14 A350 jumbo jets for Aeroflot.

Airbus, which has also sold a total of 230 helicopters to 150 customers in Russia, also has an engineering center there where 200 local employees work and produces, in collaboration with the German Liebherr and a Russian partner, train components landing and flight controls.

The engine and equipment manufacturer Safran will also "apply all the decisions that will be taken", said its general manager Olivier Andriès.

Russia represents 2% of its turnover.

Safran employs less than 600 people there.

Its activities mainly concern the supply of engines, landing gear and engine nacelles for the regional transport plane Sukhoï Superça Jet 100, a device produced at about twenty copies per year, according to Olivier Andriès.

It also produces in Russia, within the Volgaero joint venture, engine components for the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320.

Titanium stocks

Thales, present in civil aeronautics, digital identity and space, also has a marginal activity in Russia which represents less than 1% of its turnover, according to a spokesperson.

In particular, it produces cockpit elements for the Super Jet 100 and smart cards.

For the aeronautics sector, the main "point of attention" with Russia concerns the supply of titanium, according to Mr. Andriès.

The world's leading producer, VSMPO-AVisma, alone supplies almost half of the titanium, a light and resistant metal used by the sector for the landing gear of long-haul aircraft, certain engine parts or fuselage structures. .

Safran says it has increased its titanium stocks.

"We have enough stocks to take us to the fall but we will accelerate alternative sources of supply", indicated Mr. Andriès, specifying that at this stage, "VSMPO has not stopped delivering".

“Geopolitical risks are integrated into our titanium supply policies. We are therefore protected in the short/medium term,” says Airbus.

In space, Arianespace has a joint venture with the Russian agency Roscosmos, Starsem, to operate the Soyuz rocket.

It must thus launch in 2022 eight Soyuz rockets, three from Kourou in French Guiana (including the French spy satellite CSO-3) and five from the Russian cosmodrome of Baikonur in Kazakhstan.

Soyuz takes to the sky from the European Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, on May 18, 2017 jody Amiet AFP / Archives

Contacted by AFP, Arianespace said it was assessing whether or not European sanctions should have an impact on its business.

In the absence of Soyuz rockets, Europe would not have its own capacity to launch certain satellites before the implementation of Ariane 6, whose first flight is expected at the end of the year.

The head of the European space agency Joseph Aschbacher for his part affirmed on Twitter that the ESA "continues (has) to work on all its programs" with Roscosmos, whether it is the International Space Station or the ExoMars mission, which is to be launched in September.

© 2022 AFP