The Russian government announced that it will allocate some 300 billion rubles (about 3.9 billion dollars) for the purchase of foreign lessor-owned aircraft held by Russian airlines. The announcement was made by Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev during a meeting of the State Duma Transport Committee, Interfax reported.
A portion of these funds has already been used by Aeroflot to purchase 10 long-haul Boeing 777s at the end of last year. The purchase of these planes was made possible by the easing of sanctions imposed by Western countries since the start of the military operation in Ukraine, the state news agency reports.
This allowed leasing companies to continue to honor aircraft leasing contracts concluded with Russian airlines before 26 February 2022. Aeroflot declared last year that it bought 18 aircraft from foreign lessors – eight long-haul Airbus A330s and the 10 Boeing 777s previously mentioned.
The residual value of the more than 500 foreign aircraft retained in Russia is estimated at $20 billion, according to Savelyev.
The Russian government’s move is aimed at increasing the fleet of Russian airlines, improving the quality and safety of air transport services, to meet growing safety requirements and other factors.
