According to international media reports, Bermuda is revoking licenses for 745 Russian aircraft, which means that half of the civilian aircraft fleet will be affected. More exactly, Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority [BCAA]temporarily suspended all airworthiness certificates"Of aircraft operating on the basis of"agreement between Bermuda and the Russian Federation".
"Therefore, as of 23:59 UTC on 12 March 2022, the BCAA has provisionally suspended all certificates of airworthiness of those aircraft operating in accordance with Article 83bis of the Agreement between Bermuda and the Russian Federation.
Most of the planes flying to Russian airlines are registered in Bermuda or the Virgin Islands to avoid taxes (tax evasion) and to be accepted at airports around the world. Even Aeroflot has aircraft registered in Bermuda (those with VP-B and VQ-B registrations).
Apparently, the Russian authorities were expecting this move and managed to change the registrations of about 200 aircraft, transferring them from Bermuda to Russia. Aircraft from Aeroflot, Pobeda, UTair, Rossiya and Izhavia are included.
At the same time, the leasing companies will return their planes until March 28, 2022. We are talking about approximately 700 existing planes in the fleets of Russian companies. Russia does not want to return these planes, and the Moscow authorities are considering nationalizing these aircraft.
The news is being updated!