Egypt's Ultimatum Frightens Russia
- 16.01.2024, 11:34
Cairo threatened to arrest 27 Russian aircraft.
The Federal Air Transport Agency asked Aeroflot and Rossiya airlines not to fly to Egypt on 27 planes due to the threat of arrest, Izvestia writes, citing the Agency’s Telegram account.
In particular, Aeroflot is not recommended to fly to the Arab Republic on ten Airbus A320s, four A321s, one A350 and nine Boeing 777-300ERs, and Rossiya Airlines is not recommended to fly on three Boeing 737-800s.
According to the publication's source, the aviation industry regulator sent out the warnings after receiving information through closed channels about the risks of the aircraft being seized at Egyptian airports.
However, airlines currently do not fly on these aircraft to the Arab country, the source added. According to data on the Aeroflot website, the airline operates flights to Egypt using the Airbus A320 neo.
However, last year Aeroflot and Rossiya flew on airliners listed by Rosaviation not only to Egypt, but also to other countries, Krysha Turdoma Telegram channel wrote. These airliners belong to the State Transport Leasing Company (STLC).
The Irish High Court has been trying to seize 37 aircraft from it since last year. In addition to the above 27, ten more operate S7, Aurora and Yamal, which do not fly to Egypt, Izvestia’s source noted.
Back in September, the regulator recommended that carriers refuse to fly abroad on State Transport Leasing Company aircraft, a source told RBC. STLC itself also warned that there was a risk of its aircraft being arrested abroad in connection with the legal proceedings.
In Ireland, a subsidiary of STLC Europe was previously liquidated due to sanctions. Management in it has passed to the liquidators, who “will sell the companies’ property to generate cash flow for the purpose of settlements with creditors (including Eurobond holders),” noted the State Transport Leasing Company.
Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU and the US imposed sanctions against the country's aviation industry, banning the supply of aircraft and components. In total, there were 523 aircraft of foreign lessors in Russia, 142 of which belonged to the world's largest aircraft leasing company AerCap. Leased airplanes accounted for more than half of the country's entire civil aviation fleet.
The Russian government allowed airlines not to hand over the aircraft, and re-register them in Russia. This made it possible to continue flying them, but aircraft with dual registration cannot fly abroad. Moreover, in other countries they are expected to be arrested and returned to the owner.