Individual airlines from the Russian Federation want to get rid of their planes leased from the West. This is in particular the Boeing 737 Max, which is not yet allowed to fly in Russia. However, the Russian Ministry of Transport is cautious.

According to a Kremlin order, airlines must apply for approval before returning Western leased aircraft. Some carriers have already applied for this in April and May 2022, but so far have reportedly received no response from the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation.

For example, S7 Airlines wants to get rid of two medium-haul Boeing 737 Max jets and has submitted a corresponding request. The background is that the Russian Federation never lifted the flight ban on this type of aircraft imposed in the wake of the deadly crashes at Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines. The necessary re-certification has not yet been carried out and due to the sanctions that were imposed in the wake of the military attack on Ukraine, it is also very unlikely that this will take place in the foreseeable future.

The consequence of this is that S7 Airlines simply cannot do anything with the two Boeing 737 Max and wants to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Therefore, the return to the lessor has been requested. "It is correct that we have submitted a request for the return of two Boeing 737-8 Max to the lessor, as there is no type certificate in the Russian Federation and accordingly operation is not possible," the airline said in a statement.

AirBridgeCaro plans to hand over 14 Boeing 747s to Etihad Cargo

Another airline known to be returning aircraft to Lessors is Volga-Dnepr subsidiary AirBridge Cargo. They want to get rid of 14 of 16 Boeing 747s. The vast majority has been parked at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport for several months. Flight operations had to be temporarily suspended due to the sanctions.

The group intends to return the Boeing 747 Freighters to lessors and transfer them to Eithad Cargo under lessor Dubai Aerospace Enterprise. Together with the Gulf company, the group hopes to bypass western restrictions and jointly operate the freighters for continued operations. The new Etihad entity would be effectively the same as ABC, with the sale being primarily handled by a new entity composed of Volga-Dnepr Group's former European GSA and AirFreight Logistics. It is expected that the proceeds will be shared if the acquisition is legally possible.

"The company's success will depend on lawyers on both sides finding a way to operate the plane while respecting the US sanctions imposed on them and the UK sanctions against them. The decision on AirBridgeCargo has been made provisionally at the government level and could be made in August or September," said company boss Alexei Isaikin.