Aeroflot is considering buying eight Airbus A330s from foreign leasing companies, Russian stated-owned media TASS announced. On the airline’s disclosure website, the company stated that the issue will be considered by the board of directors during its meeting on April 25th.
On April 8th, the European Union adopted an amendment to the sanctions imposed against Russia. Such modification would give leasing companies the possibility to sell aircraft in Russia to Russian airlines.
“On the exercise of the right to early redemption of eight Airbus A330-300 aircraft under financial lease (leasing) transactions,” the agenda of the meeting of the board of directors says.
The amendment would thus give European governments enough leeway to grant local leasing and credit institutions the right to accept payments from Russian companies, which in turn had received aircraft on financial lease under agreements concluded before February 26th. Ownership of the aircraft can be transferred after payment of lease payments.
According to Bloomberg News, European companies must request government permission to sell the planes and no resources can be made available beyond the transfer of ownership. The leases concern new Airbus and Boeing Co. jets, where export credit agencies guarantee about 85% of the amount loaned to an airline by a banking syndicate.
At the end of March, the Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Vitaly Savelyev reported that the total fleet of aircraft in the Russian Federation was more than 1,300 units. In total, foreign lessors demanded the return of more than 500 aircraft.
