They want their planes back from Russia – hundreds of passenger jets with a market value of around $10 billion, according to estimates.

Western aircraft lessors are prohibited from leasing business with local airlines because of the sanctions against Russia.

But the chances of the plane rental companies getting the jets back are slim.

There are increasing signs that Russia wants to keep the planes without further ado.

Timo Kotowski

Editor in Business.

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Philip Pickert

Business correspondent based in London.

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It would be a catastrophic blow to Western leasing companies.

According to figures from the aviation analysts IBA, the world's largest aircraft rental company, AerCap from Ireland, has leased 152 aircraft with a market value of almost 2.5 billion dollars to Russian airlines.

AerCap explained that by the end of 2021, around 5 percent of its own more than 2,000 aircraft - measured by book values ​​- were leased to Russian airlines.

The company has announced that it will cut business ties with Russia.

AerCap did not explain how aircraft should be returned to the owner.

Do airlines hold planes?

The lessor currently has a period of one month to stop doing business in Russia.

This should not lead to the end of the struggle for aircraft.

The Russian news agency RBC has already reported on a plan by Moscow to transfer the planes into state custody.

The logic behind this: If assets and foreign exchange reserves are frozen in the West as a result of sanctions, values ​​are also retained.

The low-cost airline Pobeda, a subsidiary of the state Aeroflot, announced to the state news agency Tass that it wanted to protect aircraft "within the legal framework".

Since the import of spare parts is prevented by sanctions, parts could be removed from retained aircraft, speculation in the industry.

A collapse of domestic air traffic could thus be averted for a long time.

Russian airlines do almost two thirds of their business on the extensive domestic market.

Few countries like Turkey and China are still open to them.

Almost smugly, Russian sources point out that aircraft rental companies and aircraft could never come together.

Finally, Russian airlines have been banned from using EU airspace.

Bringing back planes don't go.

In return, EU companies were banned from traffic in the sky over Russia.

The fact that owners pick up aircraft is also ruled out.

The Russian website Frequentflyer also reported on the plan to charge aircraft that now use parking positions at Russian airports with a "special high tariff".

Most of the Russian fleet leased

A withdrawal of the leased aircraft would amount to a huge and unwanted bloodletting of Russian aviation.

Airlines such as the state-owned Aeroflot and its competitor S7 Airlines mainly rely on jets that they have leased rather than bought.

Russian lessors are also active in the business, including subsidiaries of Sberbank and VTB-Bank and the aircraft manufacturer Ilyushin.

However, aviation data specialist Cirium estimates that 515 out of 980 aircraft in Russia belong to the portfolio of Western lessors.