Aeroflot used a legal exception in its leasing contracts to acquire eight Airbus A330-300s out of the 12 in its fleet.
The airline did not detail which aircraft these are, but said the payment was made “as part of the fulfillment of contractual obligations”.
To legally keep the eight widebodies, Aeroflot used an exception existing in the economic sanctions applied by the European Union against Russia after the military invasion of Ukraine.
Under the regulation introduced on April 8, EU national authorities can authorize the execution of aircraft finance leasing contracts dated before February 26, provided that it is “strictly necessary to ensure lease re-payments”.
Since the West instituted retaliatory measures against the Russian government, more than 400 leased aircraft have been stranded in Russia.
The airworthiness certificates of dozens of aircraft that were registered in Bermuda and Ireland were suspended, causing the Russian civil aviation authority to transfer the registrations to the country.
