The lessors demanded their planes back in March after being forced to shut down their business in Russia due to Western sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Four months later, the planes have still not returned and the lessors have filed claims with insurers for 10 billion euros.
The director of SMBC Capital Aviation, one of the largest aircraft rental companies in the world, last week called it “unlikely” that Russia will return 34 of the company’s aircraft “in the near future, if at all”. The company wrote off 1.6 billion euros to cover the loss of the devices.
Attempts at seizure have also proved unsuccessful. Aircraft rental company AerCap (113 aircraft in Russia) went to a judge in Sri Lanka in early June when a stolen Airbus A330-300 showed up there in the livery of Aeroflot, an airline owned by the Kremlin. The judge initially ordered the seizure of the aircraft, but shortly afterwards gave the green light for the return flight to Moscow.
The Sri Lankan judge’s turn was the result of heavy pressure from the Russian government, it said revealed The Washington Post Tuesday† The Kremlin threatened to cut energy supplies to Sri Lanka and halted all tourist flights to the island. Even then, Sri Lanka was struggling with an economic crisis, which in recent days led to storming of government buildings.
Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin personally ordered the theft of the planes in March. He signed a law to register the foreign aircraft in Russia in order to “ensure the uninterrupted operation of civil aviation activities.”
The stolen planes made 6,899 flights in and outside Russia between March and June, according to IBA, an aviation consultancy. Most aircraft go up and down between Russia and Tajikistan.
Those flights are becoming increasingly dangerous, warn international aviation authorities. Boeing and Airbus stopped supplying spare parts to Russian airlines in early March. Regular maintenance programs for the devices have also been shut down.
Black list
The UN International Civil Aviation Organization has informed Russia that the country is in danger of being blacklisted, according to the Russian business newspaper RBK. Other countries on the list include Bhutan and Eritrea.
It is unclear how long Russia can keep the stolen planes in the air. Repairers must source spare parts from other aircraft or turn to domestic manufacturers of counterfeit parts for Western aircraft.
Russia’s only passenger jet, the Sukhoi Superjet 100, has suffered a setback due to delivery problems and a fire during a landing in 2019 that killed 41 people.