Oct 23 (Reuters) - Facing a shortage of planes due to

Western sanctions, Russia is in talks with some Central Asian

countries for their airlines to run domestic flights and help

meet a pick up in travel demand.

Russian airlines, which use many Western aircraft delivered

before the war in Ukraine, are struggling to meet growing demand

for air travel as sanctions hinder access to parts and domestic

production takes time to ramp up.

Transport Minister Roman Starovoit said last week Russia was

in talks with so-called "friendly" countries, including

Kazakhstan, about foreign airlines operating domestic flights,

Russian news agencies reported.

Russia has also approached Uzbekistan, which is considering

the proposal, an Uzbek government source told Reuters.

"To date, there has been no official request from the

Russian side on the issue," Kazakhstan's transport ministry

said. Tajik and Krygyz authorities also said they had not

received any official requests. Uzbekistan's transport ministry

did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

SANCTIONS RISK

Artem Zhavoronkov, a partner at Russian law firm Nordic

Star, said Central Asian airlines were unlikely to want to risk

running Russian domestic flights as that might lead to them in

turn facing Western sanctions.

"This is a serious risk and hardly any large companies from

neighbouring countries will be prepared to accept it,"

Zhavoronkov said.

Russian airlines saw passenger numbers drop 14.7% to 94.7

million in 2022 as the Western sanctions hit and much of Europe

closed its airspace to them.

After a 11.3% rebound in 2023, passenger numbers are on

track to jump again this year, according to data from

Rosaviatsia, Russia's civil aviation watchdog.

Moscow plans to supply Russian airlines with up to 1,000

domestically-made aircraft by 2030, but production launches are

being constantly postponed.

Sergei Chemezov, head of state conglomerate Rostec, on

Wednesday told parliament that mass production of the MS-21

aircraft and the Superjet New would start in 2025 and 2026,

respectively.

Russian rules currently only allow foreign airlines to fly

between Russian cities and airports abroad. An airline industry

source said foreign airlines may struggle to secure approval

from lessors and insurers even if the rules are updated.

Kazakhstan's transport ministry said it was focused on

meeting rising demand at home, where passenger traffic is up

about 15% from last year.