The field of civil aviation of all kinds has been at the heart of the Ukrainian crisis, due to the sanctions imposed by the West on Russia.

After closing the airspace of the European Union, the United States, Canada and other countries to Russian planes, Western governments asked leasing companies to withdraw their planes from Russia at the end of last March.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin quickly signed a law allowing Russian airlines to keep foreign planes for use on domestic flights, leaving nearly 400 foreign-owned planes stranded inside Russia.

On the other hand, several countries have seized nearly 79 Russian-owned aircraft under Western sanctions.

These mutual procedures between the parties to the conflict led to each party resorting to applying several strategies to try to reduce its losses and maximize its gains.

Sanad Agency monitored these strategies in an investigation that relied on open sources, most notably the analysis of navigational data and satellite images, access to reports that monitor air traffic, and others.

Exclusive data

The Sanad Agency investigation team obtained exclusive data for more than 40,000 flights linked to Russian airports from the Radar Box website, from January to April.

The data showed a significant decrease in the number of international flights linked to Russia after the start of the war. It also showed that Turkey maintained the highest number of monthly flights, while maintaining its proportion of international flights linked to Russia before and after the war, due to its non-participation in Western sanctions against Moscow.

According to the data, Ukraine, Egypt, Germany and European countries retreated from the lead of countries associated with flights with Russia, while other countries allied with Moscow appeared, such as Armenia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Serbia, and Uzbekistan also maintained its advanced position among the most important countries associated with air traffic with Russia before Penalties and then.

Sanad agency analysis confirmed that Russian air traffic has largely moved towards Central Asian countries, following the European sanctions.

Countries with the largest number of flights with Russia from January to April (SANAD)

The impact of Western sanctions on the Russian aviation sector

The aviation sector is one of Russia's weaknesses, because it does not have the technology to manufacture aircraft that meet its needs.

Even aircraft manufactured in Russia, such as the "Sukhoi Superjet" and "Irkut MC-21", which aspire to compete with the "Airbus A320" and "Boeing 737" They use drives, software, and electronics from the United States and Europe.

A Russian state-owned company is trying to develop a domestic engine, but it will take time, according to the Washington Post.

For these reasons, Russia relied on chartering planes from Western companies to run a large part of its foreign flights.

The number of chartered aircraft reached 515 out of a total of 968 aircraft in the Russian commercial fleet.

Western sanctions also banned the sale of spare parts and services to Russian airlines, which means that maintenance operations for Russian airlines are impossible, which will lead to those planes not being able to fly after a short period, and they will only be suitable for dismantling and selling their parts.

Planes parked at Sheremetyevo International Airport last June (Ezri)

Acquisition and leaseback of aircraft

After the failure of the leasing companies to recover their stranded planes from Russia, the insurance companies demanded compensation estimated at billions of dollars. As for Russia, it announced that it would nationalize the planes located within its territory;

Therefore, the leasing companies made great efforts in an attempt to seize the largest possible number of Russian planes stuck abroad to compensate for part of their losses.

The places where most of the Russian planes are held abroad are between the airports of Turkey, Egypt and the UAE.

On July 1, Icelandic low-cost airline FlyPlay announced the addition of an Airbus A320-215N to its fleet with registration number TF-BB. De" (TF-PPD) after being painted in the colors of the airlines and the official logo of the company.

But what Flyplay did not mention was that the new plane was originally a Russian SmartAvia plane with registration number VP-BOF ​​and leased from AerCap.

The plane's data indicates that it was at Istanbul's Sabiha Airport on February 9, two weeks before the outbreak of the war, due to maintenance.

But after the outbreak of the war, it became stuck at the airport as a result of Western sanctions on Russian lines.

Flyplay's announcement of the new plane (networking sites)

AerCap is the largest aircraft charter company in the world and at the same time the most vulnerable to losses due to a large number of its aircraft being held in Russia.

Having leased 135 planes and 14 engines to Russian airlines, AerCap has demanded $3.5 billion in compensation from insurance companies to cover the potential loss, after it managed to recover only 22 planes and 3 engines.

According to a report from CH-Aviatoin, the Russian company Smart Evia has refused to deliver AerCap any chartered aircraft inside or outside Russia, which increases the possibility that AerCap forcibly acquired the Russian VB-OF plane. With a change of its registration number, to be leased back thereafter;

The plane was registered in the name of AerCap on the sixth of last April before taking off to the French Chateauroux airport on the seventh of the same month, to settle at Châteauroux airport for more than two months to finish the painting work.

The plane took off for Chateauroux airport on the seventh of last April (Flight Radar 24)

On June 21, the official page of Flyplay Airlines published a picture of the TF-BBD, which was taken while it was being painted in the company's colors and logo, and then a picture was taken of it at Chateauroux airport after it was completely painted on June 28.

VB-OF data indicate that the plane headed to Reykjavik Airport in Iceland on the 30th of the same month, and then the plane's data stopped on that day before it began its first flights with the new registration number on the fourth of last July.

The process of painting the aircraft acquired by the Russian company Smart Evia (communication sites)

Russian cargo planes seized

On February 23, an Antonov cargo plane with registration number RA82046 (RA82046) flew to Leipzig-Halle Airport in Germany, but did not return to Russia;

It was the plane's last flight before it was detained at the same airport.

The plane belongs to one of the leading companies in the field of heavy air freight, the Russian company "Volga Dnper".

The company owns a fleet of 12 Antonov aircraft (An-124), which is one of the largest strategic air transport aircraft in the world.

Databases reviewed by Sanad's team showed that the impounded plane was not alone.

3 aircraft of the same model were seized, 2 at Leipzig-Halle Airport, namely "RA 82043" (RA82043) and "RA82045" (RA82045), as well as a third plane bearing the registration number "RA82078" (RA82078) at the airport. Toronto International Airport in Canada, meaning that a quarter of the company's fleet is held outside Russia, and satellite images show a change in the location of the three planes being held in Germany, in preparation for their storage.

A high-resolution image taken last March after the planes were seized and before they were relocated at the German Leipzig Hall Airport (Google Earth)

A picture dated April 18, showing the three planes at Leipzig Hall Airport, Germany (Planet.com)

Special satellite images - obtained by Sanad Agency - showed the relocation of the aircraft "RA82078" at the Canadian airport of Toronto last March to the outskirts of the airport.

A photo obtained by Sanad Agency last July shows the location of the detained Russian plane at the Canadian airport of Toronto (Sky Watch)

Re-register aircraft numbers and change their shipping lines

Each aircraft gets its own registration number from the International Civil Aviation Authority.

This number distinguishes different aircraft, so two aircraft cannot have the same registration number, and one aircraft cannot be given two different registration numbers, according to the 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation, known as the Chicago Convention.

After imposing sanctions on Russian airspace, the Russian government sought to re-register aircraft it leases from foreign companies with other registration numbers belonging to it.

Russia is using this strategy in order to circumvent the claims of rental companies to return their planes.

The Russian company Pegas Fly applied this strategy, as it changed the registration numbers of chartered aircraft belonging to its fleet, such as the plane bearing the registration number “RA73343” (RA73343) which had the number “VB-BZV” ( VP-BZV), as well as the RA73307, which was a VP-BZ.

According to the data available to Sanad Agency, the company has changed the registration numbers of 5 planes, in addition to another plane that has been parked at Naples Airport, Italy, since last January.

The Russian Copper Company also applied this strategy with its aircraft, as it changed its registration number from "p4-rcc" (p4-rcc) to "RA 2747" (RA2747) and then resumed its flights internally and with Kazakhstan.