Putin has enacted a law that allows leased commercial aircraft to become the property of airlines! Leasing companies take their "thought" from 500 commercial planes!
A law allowing Russian airlines to register foreign-leased planes in Russia came into force on Monday. Thus, leasing companies and creditors, who have to recover more than 500 aircraft before the entry into force of the sanctions, can take their thoughts from them.
The bill, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, has shaken the global aviation industry. Western sanctions imposed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine allow leasing companies to recover $ 28 billion worth of aircraft by March 10th. Russian airlines have almost 780 leased planes, with 515 leased from abroad.
The new law, part of Russia's measures to combat Western sanctions, says it aims to "ensure the uninterrupted operation of civil aviation activities." The move comes after Bermuda and Ireland, where virtually all foreign leased aircraft operating in Russia are registered, said they were suspending airworthiness certificates for those planes.
In this context, Russia can no longer use those planes, but can dismantle them for parts! No airplane may fly without a certificate of airworthiness issued by the civil aviation authority of the country in which it is registered. Russian airlines have begun re-registering these planes on Russian territory, but even in this context, these planes will not be able to fly outside Russia's borders because they risk being confiscated.
However, the airlines will contradict the owners of leased aircraft and the international rules that prohibit the double registration of aircraft, which can be registered in one country.
Leasing companies will not agree to release their aircraft from their current foreign registries, chosen because of concerns about the reliability of Russian regulations.
"It is illegal to register an aircraft without proof of deletion from the previous register, as well as the owner's consent. This would be a breach of the obligations under the leasing contracts ", said the aviation advisor Bertrand Grabowski.
The Russian Federal Aviation Agency said that as of February 24, there were 776 planes registered abroad, which indicates the number on the day Russia invaded Ukraine. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation".
Leasing companies terminate leases and require aircraft to be returned. But they have had little success, and experts say legal disputes between Russian airlines and leasing companies could take years.
The United States and European countries, on the one hand, and Russia, on the other, have each blocked their airspace to the other's airlines through "tit-for-tat" measures.
Russia's state aviation authority last week recommended that airlines with foreign-leased planes suspend flights abroad, making it difficult for landlords to regain possession.