All foreign leased aircraft to remain in Russia
Russian deputy prime minister announces on television foreign leased aircraft still in Russia will stay there
All foreign leased aircraft still in Russia after the termination of Western leasing contracts will remain in Russia, Russia’s deputy prime minister, Yuri Borisov, said on March 31, according to Reuters.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a wide range of countries imposed sanctions on Russia. This forced Western firms to terminate leasing contracts with Russian airlines for more than 500 aircraft. Russia said 78 of these planes were seized while abroad, meaning more than 400 remain.
“The entire fleet, meaning foreign aircraft, will remain in Russia,” Borisov said on Russian television. “Some were impounded [abroad] as sanctions were being introduced, [but] the vast majority of Boeing and Airbus [planes] remain in Russia.”
The Russian parliament has passed a law allowing the aircraft, worth almost $10bn, to be entered on the country’s own register, in contravention of international rules.
Bermuda and Ireland, where most of the planes are registered, have suspended airworthiness certificates, which usually means they should be grounded.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, said he had instructed the Russian government to work out measures to ease the burden of leasing payments on Russia’s airlines.
However, there have not been any announcements yet as to if any leased aircraft will be handed over to Russian airlines.
AerCap, the world’s largest aircraft leasing company, has placed a $3.5bn insurance claim to cover the potential loss of its planes and engines that remain stuck in Russia, which shocked the aviation market this week.