China refuses to allow more than half of the planes of Russian airlines into its airspace because of Western sanctions imposed on Russian civil aviation after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
As RBC writes concerning a copy of the letter of the President of the Association of Air Transport Operators (AEVT) Volodymyr Tasun to the head of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation Vitaly Saveliev, in particular, Russian airlines cannot operate flights to China on aircraft that are not excluded from the Bermuda register (more than 480 aircraft) or are on the list of sanctions of the US Ministry of Trade (more than 170).
It is noted that from May 2022, China will not allow dual-registration aircraft into its airspace. As of February 2022, most of the imported aircraft of Russian airlines were registered in Bermuda and Ireland. And although after the introduction of Western sanctions, the Russians tried to illegally re-register them in Russia, they remained in foreign registers, as was the case at first. In addition, aircraft that are on the list of the US Ministry of Trade are prohibited from refueling, servicing, and repairing. Moreover, flights to China may be hindered, in particular, by sanctions-related restrictions on work with Russian airlines by local airports and service providers, says Ihor Smirnov, senior director of corporate ratings at Expert RA.
In addition, the newspaper writes, there are problems with flights to China on Russian-made aircraft, primarily Superjets, which have not flown to this country before (the letter does not specify what exactly the problems are).
In addition, due to the inability to perform flights in the number that Russian carriers had before the COVID-19 pandemic, “historical” slots (temporary intervals for arrival and departure of flights), which are extremely scarce in Chinese airports, will be lost. This may lead to difficulties in resuming transportation, the letter says. Since we are talking about “historical” slots, perhaps some Russian carriers are afraid of canceling previously agreed permits in peak periods at the initiative of Chinese airports or redistributing them in favor of competitors, adds aviation expert Hryhoriy Pomerantsev.
Problems of Russian airlines after February 24, 2022
Many countries around the world have imposed tough sanctions against Russian civil aviation following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. In particular, countries have massively closed their airspace to Russian airlines, and foreign air carriers have stopped flying to Russia. In addition, the validity of certificates of the suitability of aircraft of Russian airlines was suspended.
At the same time, the largest international companies stopped insuring and servicing aircraft of Russian airlines, as a result of which the latter were left without imported parts. As a result, in 2022, nine Russian airlines immediately stopped flying due to sanctions. Cases of aircraft breakdowns of air carriers from the Russian Federation have also become more frequent, read more in the article “Russian planes fall apart in the air: Russian tourists flying from Sochi were depressurized.”