Russia has taken over 400 planes
One of the areas of sanctions against Russia for the war against Ukraine was a blow to the aviation industry. Russia, in response, resorted to actions already familiar to itself – robberies and threats.
The countries of Europe and North America imposed sanctions on Russia, prohibiting access to the airspace of these countries. As well as any cooperation with Russia in the aviation industry – the sale or lease of aircraft, spare parts for them, or even software updates. Companies were also prohibited from servicing aircraft leased from Russian firms.
This turned out to be quite a blow. Indeed, on the eve of the war against Ukraine, out of 968 aircraft of the Russian commercial fleet, 515 belonged to non-Russian leasing companies. So after the imposition of sanctions, they should have been returned.
Another problem for Russia was that even Russian aircraft are actively using Western technologies – engines, avionics and software. So without it, it will be extremely difficult for them to fly.
But the Russian authorities decided to actually allow these foreign aircraft to be hijacked – air carriers received the right not to return them to lessors. Because of what they went to court.
Russia began to use the hijacked planes on domestic flights. After all, there they are inaccessible to owners and court decisions. And yet, some planes were still allowed on international flights – to those countries where Russia had significant political and economic pressure.
Russian pressure on Sri Lanka to hijack a plane
Sri Lanka was one of these countries. Russian airlines were actively flying there. And the country accepted Russian tourists who brought money.
Until in June, an Airbus A330-300 plane was detained there. His Irish company AerCap leased the Russian Aeroflot. And two days after the start of the war, she demanded to return it. But the Russian carrier ignored this request, like everyone else.
Overall, the Irish company, the world's largest commercial aircraft lessor, claims to have over 100 aircraft stranded in Russia for which it has filed $3.5 billion in insurance claims.
When AerCap won a court decision on June 2 to stop operating the aircraft, Aeroflot protested by canceling all its flights to the country and claiming that Sri Lanka had given Russia a “state guarantee” that its aircraft would be able to fly and take off unhindered. The Russian Foreign Ministry warned the Ambassador of Sri Lanka about the “negative impact” on bilateral relations.
Among Moscow's threats was the cessation of energy supplies. After all, Sri Lanka by that time was on the verge of a crisis – the country was swept by a wave of protests.
It got to the point that the government of Sri Lanka protested the detention of the aircraft. And after the necessary decision of the court, the plane immediately flew to Moscow. Now it continues to fly between Russia and Kyrgyzstan.
The planes are hopelessly lost
According to Cirium, Western companies have returned only about 80 of the 515 aircraft they leased in Russia.
p>
Even if the companies eventually get their planes back, that's not the end of their worries. Since Russia has given its domestic companies permission to produce aircraft parts, in all likelihood they will contain parts that have not passed the rigorous testing of Western agencies. Consequently, these aircraft may not be allowed to fly. And it will also be problematic to determine what and when was replaced on these aircraft.
