Michael Schoellhorn, chief executive of Airbus SE’s Defense & Space division announced that ‘within months’ European aircraft maker will end its dependency on titanium imports from Russia and shift to new suppliers.

“We are in the process of decoupling from Russia when it comes to titanium. It will be a matter of months, not years,” Schoellhorn said during a company sustainability briefing.

According to Airbus official, the project to diversify away from Russian sources was ‘in full swing’ with the group expanding purchasing of titanium from alternative sources in order to cut supplies from Russia as part of broader European Union sanctions on Russian Federation.

Airbus has boosted purchases of titanium from the US and Japan while exploring some new supply options.

Given the aerospace industry’s strict regulations, cutting off Russian titanium purchases is a ‘relatively complex process’ involving certifying new suppliers, ‘but it will happen,’ Schoellhorn said.

“For the time being, Airbus still procures a certain percentage of Russian titanium, but we are clearly on a track to become independent of it,” the executive added.

The European Union has significantly broadened and strengthened its sanctions against Russia since Moscow launched its brutal war of aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

On March 7, the American corporation Boeing announced the suspension of titanium purchases in Russia and closed engineering offices in Kiev and Moscow.

The European block has also banned exports of all products and technologies used in the aviation and space sectors, primarily aircraft and spare parts for them, to Russia.