Reuters: Russian airlines want to buy planes stuck due to sanctions

Russian airlines have held preliminary talks with at least one major Western leasing firm to buy some of the more than 400 planes stranded by the sanctions. The agency reports Reuters with reference to documents and sources. It is planned to buy the planes with state money.

SMBC, one of the world’s largest aircraft rental companies, said in a September 15 letter that it was in talks with Aeroflot and AlfaStrakhovanie, the airline’s insurer. The lessor says AlfaStrakhovanie offered it $644.2 million for 17 aircraft leased by Aeroflot, minus $82 million already paid in deposits and reserves. SMBC also said in the letter that it was approached by Elbrus Insurance Brokers LLC on behalf of the Russian airline NordStar and, separately, S7 airlines to discuss “possible claims resolutions.”

State support for the talks, according to Reuters, was demonstrated in an Aug. 30 letter from the Ministry of Transport to 23 airlines. “On the acquisition of aircraft from foreign lessors, please provide information … for each aircraft that is proposed to be purchased at the expense of the National Welfare Fund,” the letter says.

If implemented, the plan would give airlines official ownership of the aircraft at a potentially large discount. Prior to the military operation, Russia was the main market for aircraft lessors, who bought aircraft from Boeing and Airbus and leased them to Russian airlines. However, Western sanctions forced landlords to terminate these contracts.

An EU representative familiar with discussions on the issue declined to comment. The Russian Transport Ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The world’s largest lessors – AerCap, Avolon and SMBC Aviation Capital – declined to comment on whether they were involved in negotiations to pay for aircraft by Russian airlines or their insurers. Aeroflot, AlfaStrakhovanie, Elbrus, NordStar and S7 did not respond to requests for comment.

On February 25, the EU announced a ban on the sale, transfer, supply or export of aircraft and any components to Russia. The sanctions provide for a ban on the conclusion of new contracts, as well as the termination of all existing ones. By data aviation consulting company Cirium since the beginning of the year, non-Russian lessors in Russia had 515 aircraft with a total market value of about $10 billion. According to one industry representative, about half of this amount is accounted for by European lessors.

By data Kommersant, Russian airlines, six months after the imposition of sanctions, managed to return 201 foreign aircraft to transportation abroad, including more than 150 Boeing and Airbus, removing them from the register of Bermuda and re-registering them in the Russian Federation. At the same time, Rostec is still trying to recover about $200 million in advance from Airbus, which it paid for the delivery of 17 A350 aircraft, which was never carried out due to sanctions.

More details – in the material “Kommersant” “Advances vanished into thin air”.

Maria Fedotova