The lessor Celestial Aviation has succeeded in chaining up the Airbus A330 with the current registration RA-73702 in Sri Lanka. The Lessor went to court in the island state and was able to obtain an injunction, which means that the long-haul aircraft that Aeroflot uses has been seized, at least temporarily.

It is an Airbus A330-343 with serial number 1301. This was originally registered as VQ-BMY in the Bermuda Islands. The leased aircraft was used without the owner's consent entered into the Russian aviation register and will continue to be used by Aeroflot.

Apparently, it was believed that flights to Sri Lanka would not seizure risk consists. The lessor Celestial Aviation saw things differently and tried to get hold of its property with the help of the local judiciary. This project was successful, because a court ordered that this A330 is temporarily seized and therefore not allowed to leave Sri Lanka.

Due to the sanctions imposed by the USA and the United States of America, among others, Lessors reclaim their planes. However, many Russian carriers - with the help of the Russian government - have not complied. The machines were transferred to the Russian register at high speed. Payments are on so-called C accounts to pay in rubles, with the owners not being able to access the money due to the sanctions. It was also ordered that the deposits deposited should be "used up". This procedure is normally permissible at most in the course of an imminent return, otherwise it is a question of default in payment and can result in the immediate collection of the machine.

According to reports, other lessors, with the help of the judiciary, are trying to regain ownership of countries to which Russian airlines fly with aircraft that the lessors see as “annexed”. The consequence of the latest decision from Sri Lanka will probably be that Aeroflot and Co. will think more carefully about which countries to fly to with such aircraft, because apart from so-called "friendly countries" there could be a threat of seizure almost everywhere.