Russia's state airline Aeroflot is expanding its fleet by two machines. This is not about locally produced aircraft, but about two Boeing 737-900ER, which are initially to be registered on the AOC of the subsidiary Rossiya. They want to get back 199 million euros from Airbus and are negotiating with western lessors about the purchase of 47 aircraft. 

According to local media reports, the two aircraft come from the inventory of the state-owned leasing company GTLK. This is affected by western sanctions. The two Boeing 737-900ERs are said to come from the lessor's inventory, local media reports.  

It was not until March 2023 that a worldwide sensation was caused when two Boeing 737-900ERs, which were formerly in service with Lion Air, were transferred to Moscow-DME, regardless of western sanctions. But the background is quite simple: the two aircraft, which were registered as PK-LPY and PK-LPW, are owned by GTLK. It was a return to the lessor that is customary in the industry, although this has become the absolute exception on the part of Russian airlines, as far as Western aircraft are concerned, since the invasion of Ukraine. Even the Kremlin's approval is required. This was even granted by S737 Airlines for the Boeing 7-Max. 

Aeroflot wants to get $199 million back from Airbus 

According to a report by the Russian news agency Tass, Aeroflot had already reached an agreement with the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus in December 2022 on the repayment of advance payments already made. Company boss Sergei Vladimirovich Alexandrovsky is quoted as saying, among other things, that around 199 million US dollars were returned and that further reimbursements are being negotiated. It is said to be about down payments for aircraft made by Airbus, Boeing and other manufacturers as a result of the sanctions that were introduced against Russia after the military attack on Ukraine.  

It is noteworthy, however, that Airbus expressly did not want to comment on the report from the Tass agency. Therefore it is not possible to verify the actual truth content. Especially since the beginning of the war against Ukraine, Russian agency reports have repeatedly proved to be inaccurate. 

Aeroflot wants to buy 47 machines from lessors 

The Interfax agency, also based in the Russian Federation, claims, citing Aeroflot's managing director, that it is currently in the process of buying 47 jets from Western lessors. These are exclusively machines that were not returned, contrary to the contract. The negotiations would be complicated. However, the state airline should not be an isolated case: “I know that other airlines also communicate with lessors about insurance processing. Most likely, they will go down the path of creating their own captive leases," the manager told Interfax. 

The sanctions practiced by the European Union and the USA, among others, are quite severe. However, Russian carriers manage to circumvent these by purchasing spare parts through “intermediaries” in Turkey, India, the United Arab Emirates and other countries. Future do you want to produce them yourself? and uses it also know-how from Iran. There has also been one exception with regard to lessors: With so-called finance leases, it is possible under certain circumstances that the machines may be sold to Russia despite sanctions. This is not the case with operating leases and must be used in the EU, among other places the contracts are actually terminated. With few exceptions, this fails because the Kremlin has passed its own laws that prevent the return. As a result, Russian carriers are using the affected aircraft, which into the RA register without the consent of the owners was transferred, if possible do not use it in states where seizure could threaten.