The conflicts caused by Russia in Ukraine is impacting several sectors, including aviation. In this regard, aircraft leasing companies are concerned about their aircraft in Russia.
With several sanctions imposed against Russia, airlines are prohibited from flying or overflying several European countries and also in the USA.
Now leasing companies are looking for alternatives to take back these aircraft before something happens to them. With the suspension of the supply of parts for aircraft, companies may end up taking parts from other planes.
One of the companies concerned about the possible non-return of aircraft is Valkyrie BTO Aviation. A calculation made by Ishka, an aviation consultancy, shows that just over 500 aircraft are leased to Russian companies.
Altogether, these aircraft are valued at just over $10 billion.
Within the sanctions made by the European Union against Russia, leasing companies can take back their aircraft until March 28, but according to Valkyrie BTO Aviation, only 20 planes have been taken back so far.
Aeroflot, S7 Airlines and other Russian companies followed Russian government guidelines to suspend their international operations and leave their aircraft stocked on Russian soil.
"The biggest fear of (leasing) companies is that their aircraft will be gone forever." Says Steve Giordano, Director of Nomadic Aviation Group.
The entire sector was taken by surprise by the Russian authorities failing to comply with international treaties and conventions, in which they were established decades ago.
One of the treaties allows aircraft leasing companies that own the planes to repossess their assets in the event of default.
In addition to the Russian government's measures to direct the country's airlines to operate flights only within the national territory or to Belarus, the authorities want the aircraft registrations to be changed.
According to the understanding of the Russian authorities, most of the aircraft they have have Bermuda registrations, if they have been altered, they may have more difficulties in locating and revoking the certificates of those aircraft.
Seeking to avoid this type of problem, Aircastle added a clause about the possible resumption of the plane when making a stopover in Mexico City.
"It was a small victory, but the doors are closing." Says Cristopher Beers, Head of Legal at Aircastle.
An example was an Aeroflot Airbus A321 belonging to SMBC Aviation Capital, which had its certificate suspended by the Government of Bermuda, but the leasing company was unable to prevent the aircraft from returning to Russia.
Another important factor in this scenario is the safety and conditions of these planes. If the records are altered and the planes sent to Russia, it would not be possible to prove their operational safety condition.
"If you can't prove that maintenance has been done, you can't prove that the aircraft is safe." Says Chris Sponenberg, Vice President of the Wilmington Trust.
With information, The globe.
