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Vladimir Putin allows Russian airlines to register locally planes they have leased from foreign companies so these will be certified as domestically airworthy
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The move allows the aircraft to service domestic routes while making it harder for foreign lessors to repossess them without Moscow’s approval, CNN reports
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Russian airlines operate 305 Airbus and 332 Boeing jets mostly leased from the European and US planemakers, according to the report
President Vladimir Putin, in a tit-for-tat move, signed a law Monday as part of his anti-sanction measures that will allow local airlines to register in Russia planes they had leased from foreign firms so these will be issued local certificates of airworthiness, CNN reported.
The bill will make it possible for Russian airlines to keep their foreign leased aircraft and operate these on domestic routes while making it harder for foreign companies to reclaim their jets without Russian government approval, CNN reported, citing a Kremlin statement.
US and European sanctions imposed on Russia for invading Ukraine require leasing companies to repossess hundreds of planes they leased to Russian airlines by the end of the month.
Western aircraft makers such as Airbus and Boeing have already cut off Russian airlines’ access to spare parts they need to maintain and fly their jets safely.
The US Commerce Department issued last week as list of Russian airlines and at least one individual who owned or leased about 100 aircraft from US plane manufacturers and warned that servicing those aircraft would constitute violation of the US-imposed sanctions.
CNN said Russian airlines operate 305 Airbus jets and 332 Boeing jets, citing data provided by aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Russia also has 83 regional jets made by Western manufacturers such as Bombardier, Embraer and ATR. Only 144 planes in the active fleets of Russian airlines were built in Russia, CNN said.
Meanwhile, Russian low-cost carrier Pobeda is grounding 16 of its 41 Boeing B-737-800 jets until the end of this year to deal with Western sanctions, Reuters reported, citing Russian news service Interfax.
Pobeda made this move to ensure flight safety and will reduce its flight fleet from 41 to 25 aircraft, Reuters reported.
“To maintain flight safety, we will reduce the fleet to 25 aircraft. The remaining planes will not fly until the end of the year so that the spare parts we have accumulated will last until lost supply chains are restored,” Pobeda acting general director Andrei Yurikov was quoted by Interfax as saying, the report said.
Pobeda is a low-cost unit of the Russian flag carrier Aeroflot, which suspended all its international services earlier this month amid the Ukraine conflict.
Aeroflot’s subsidiaries Rossiya Airlines and Aurora Airlines, along with airline company S7, have also decided to stop their international operations.
Russian charter airline companies Azur Air and Royal Flight have similarly ceased their international operations in light of the Ukraine conflict.
