On April 8, the Council of the European Union partially eased sanctions against Russian civil aviation, but this will practically not improve the position of Russian airlines. The decision has already been published in the official gazette of the European Union.
In the updated version of the sanctions that the European Union imposed due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European companies were allowed to provide aircraft for financial leasing in Russia if the deal was concluded before February 26, 2022.
At the same time, in each individual case, European companies will need to obtain permission from the authorities of their country to continue working under this agreement. After all payments are completed, the aircraft will be transferred to the ownership of Russian air carriers.
Why have the sanctions been eased?
Financial leasing is essentially the sale of an aircraft in installments. After all payments are completed, the equipment becomes the property of the airline. In Russia, this type of leasing is not common. Most of the airliners were taken on the basis of operating leases – i.e. temporary lease for several years, after which the aircraft was returned to the owner.
The conditions for financial leasing and operating leasing are different. The Russian side could require European companies to pay the difference in paid invoices. Apparently, this was the reason for the easing of sanctions, because then European companies would have suffered more from them, rather than Russian ones.
Why won’t this help Russia?
The European Union and the United States have left a ban on the supply of spare parts and technical documentation to Russia for servicing airliners. Because of this, Russian airlines and service centers will not be able to legally receive original spare parts and official support from aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing.
At first, foreign aircraft in Russia can be repaired by turning part of the fleet into donors of spare parts. For further flights, the country will have to establish illegal channels for the supply of spare parts or use counterfeit parts. This situation may lead to a drop in the level of civil aviation safety in Russia.