Posted on 03/15/2022 8:43:37 AM PDT by blam
As sanctions cripple Russia’s aviation industry, President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Monday allowing foreign-owned aircraft to be re-registered as Russian for domestic use, according to state-run news agency TASS.
Russian airlines would have the ability to seize and operate aircraft leased by companies that are no longer operating in the country over sanctions imposed due to the Ukraine invasion, TASS reported.
Russian airlines have almost 780 leased jets, with 515 leased from abroad.
The new law, part of Russia’s measures to combat the sanctions, says it aims “to ensure the uninterrupted functioning of activities in the field of civil aviation.”
TASS reported that the aircraft will be certified using certification centers and test laboratories.
The bill has rattled global leasing firms days before a March 28 deadline to repossess aircraft worth $10 billion as a result of Western sanctions imposed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It comes after Bermuda and Ireland, where virtually all foreign-leased jets operating in Russia are registered, said they were suspending airworthiness certificates on the jets because they could no longer be sure they were safe.
File photo shows an aircraft of Russia’s flagship airline Aeroflot during a media presentation at Sheremetyevo International Airport outside Moscow on March 4, 2020. (Rueters/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo)
Re-registering jets in Russia would aim to keep them flying domestically by granting access to new safety approvals.
But adding Russia as a second host country could put Moscow at odds with international rules barring the registration of civil planes in more than one country at a time.
Unless Western lessors agree to Russian requests to release their jets from foreign registries—widely seen as unlikely while they struggle as it is to regain control of assets—the new policy also paves the way for a major contractual debate.
“It is illegal to register an aircraft without proof of deregistration from the previous registry as well as the agreement of the owner. This would be a default under leasing contracts,” said aviation adviser Bertrand Grabowski.
The Wall Street Journal noted that the law is likely to have limited effect, as sanctions prohibit maintenance, updates, support or the supply of spare parts for aircraft. Passengers could be put at risk as modern passenger jets require high levels of maintenance.
The Russian Federal Aviation Agency said 776 planes were registered abroad as of Feb. 24, the day Russia invaded Ukraine. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” to demilitarise and “denazify” its neighbor. Ukraine and the West argue that this is a false pretext to justify its invasion.
Brazil has stayed out of this for the most part. China is going to step in to help Vlad. India will to a certain point as well, but must walk a tightrope with the west.
If the PLA sends troops and supplies to help with Ukraine, all bets are off - the Axis will have formed again.
We have already killed off the western investment and business culture there, so now it’s no longer really useful as a threat. The real worry is how we have taught nations of the danger of doing business with America. Any investment can be seized, any property can be seized and accounts frozen on a whim.
All this economic warfare will hurt us too. Badly.
Not only that, he effectively purchased those aircraft at a penalty price and he can’t get parts for them.
STUPID!
You don't understand.
The United States has got physical assets, too - just like BRIC.
What about the tweet mines of Twitter?
How about the ban factories of Facebook and the hawtgirl jpgs of Instagram?
What about them? 
Have GE and Rolls Royce stopped sending engines to Russia for aircraft? I assume so.
Hard to retrofit a Boeing to use Russian engines - I can’t imagine the programming required to work with the operating systems.
How about a company firmware push to the avionics that will make the aircraft a paperweight?
I would think it depends on who owns the jets as to where one would file. The leasing firms seem to be mostly located in bermuda and Ireland I believe.
They will copy whatever parts and software they need. And did you know they are also friends with China? Remember all those converse tech stealing partnerships? Like with Boeing?
Can’t imagine the programming? And how to get parts? Guess who can? China and India. Chinese programmers who work at the Chinese branch of Boeing. That’s the way they’ll help, not with PLA soldiers.
Then you have stepped into cyber warfare and you find your electricity goes out in DC.
The real damage will not be to Russia, but to the West. Does anyone think the Chinese, Brazilians, Indians, etc. are not watching what happens to countries and individuals who displease America? There will be a competing reserve currency and a competitor to Swift, both of which will be beyond the control of the US and Europe. What will the western banks do when $trillions of foreign reserves they currently have possession of migrate to the new payment system which will not use the dollar?
Yes, cut off ... only non-sanctioned registered owners get support
In retaliation Russia closed its airspace to countries that sanctioned it.
There was a crazy post of the flight path of a plane from Tokyo to London. It flew out into the Pacific, through the Bering Straight, along the Arctic Ocean and then to London. That’s a lot of fuel.
I think it is time for Euro lines to close. They won’t compete with Asians on half of their routes.
“How many decades will pass before western companies trust Russia enough to invest there.”
But wait, we were told that the sanctions would be the “worst ever” and would force Russia to collapse.
That’s funny. They are still fighting and living their lives every day.
In the meantime, it is “tit for tat.” You steal our money and we steal your airplanes And, by the way, we really don’t need your stuff because we’ve got new friends and your dollar is not necessary for us and many others in the world.
Watch for Russia, China, India, the middle east, and many African countries with almost one-half of the world’s population to tell us bye-bye. We will see the start of a new and competitive world order to our country.
You tell me how we win in this new scenario? https://youtu.be/A-te4nwj9Z4
Thanks Xiden. Smart. Real smart.
They used to do that all the time during the Cold War. Then the Russians figured out that they could price their overflight rights just a little bit less than the dollar value of the fuel saved, and make out like bandits.
Too bad there isn’t a kill switch that can be activated via satellite. No payment? Plane shuts down after engines are turned off. Message sent to lessor -1 year prepayment required to restart.
Off grid. My electricity is just fine.
That is the way to be...
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