Damage in the billions Russia is said to have stolen hundreds of planes
03/26/2022, 02:37
In mid-March, President Putin enacted a law allowing Russian airlines to take foreign aircraft as their property. European aviation authorities are now reporting that leasing companies are waiting for the machines to be returned.
According to European aviation authorities, Russia has “stolen” several hundred planes since Western sanctions took effect. Leasing companies would suffer billions in losses, according to a videoconference by Eurocontrol, the European organization for aviation safety.
Under EU sanctions imposed after the Russian attack on Ukraine, Russian airlines have until Monday to return leased planes. However, a law passed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 14 allows Russian airlines overseas chartered aircraft in Russia. This would allow domestic flights to take place despite Western sanctions. In other countries, however, machines can be confiscated.
“Most of the planes they could use to fly abroad are leased machines of European or American origin that have now been stolen from their rightful owners, the leasing companies,” said Henrik Hololei, transport officer for the European Commission.
515 aircraft from Russian airlines are leased
By allowing the aircraft in Russia, local authorities “gravely violated the laws of international aviation and the Convention on International Civil Aviation, the so-called Chicago Convention,” Hololei said. “Enormous fortunes were effectively stolen by the Russians,” said Eurocontrol Director General Eamonn Brennan.
This is “about ten billion euros plus 500 aircraft that were confiscated by the Russians and registered with them,” Brennan said. This creates “a very difficult situation” for European leasing companies and insurance companies.
According to the Russian Ministry of Transport, as of March 11, Russian airlines operated a total of 1,367 aircraft, of which 739 were more than half registered abroad. According to aviation analytics provider Cirium, 515 of the planes used by Russian airlines are leased. As of March 14, 428 of them were in Russia or Belarus.