Russia asks Vietnam to lease aircraft with crews — Euronews
The Russian Federation, an aggressor state, has proposed that Vietnamese airlines provide passenger aircraft to Russian carriers under so-called wet leases. Such an agreement provides an aircraft together with its crew, maintenance and insurance. Russian Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin said that the Vietnamese side is studying the proposal, Euronews reports.
Risk of secondary sanctions
Vietnam's main airline operates only Airbus and Boeing aircraft. Therefore, the potential transfer of aircraft to Russia would concern Western-made planes and could create a risk of US secondary sanctions for Vietnamese companies for facilitating the operation of sanctioned aircraft types by a Russian carrier.
According to the outlet, Russia has also approached countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East with similar proposals, but these appeals have not yet produced results. Ethiopia previously rejected a similar proposal.
Aircraft groundings and spare parts shortage
After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow allowed airlines to re-register in Russia more than 400 leased Western aircraft instead of returning them to their owners. International aviation law prohibits the dual registration of a single aircraft, although the International Civil Aviation Organization has no mechanism to force Russia to return these planes.
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Before the full-scale invasion, approximately 850 of Russia's 900 commercial aircraft were manufactured by Boeing or Airbus, and about 85% of them were under foreign leases. Due to sanctions on spare parts supplies and maintenance, Russian carriers are dismantling some aircraft for components. Russia's aviation regulator, Rosaviatsia, issues its own certificates for such parts, but they are not recognized by aviation authorities in the EU and the United States.
According to Russian industry data, 130 of the 673 aircraft operated by Russia's 11 largest airlines, or nearly one-fifth, are not in service. The normal grounding rate is about 10%. Outside the Aeroflot group, 93 out of 322 aircraft are not operating, nearly one-third of the fleet.
Problems with aviation fuel
Fuel supplies have become a separate problem. The outlet Verstka reported refueling restrictions at at least 26 major airports in Russia. In St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Ufa, Irkutsk and Vladivostok, fuel is dispensed in the amount needed for one flight. In Sochi, Volgograd and Astrakhan, the restrictions apply to all carriers.
Russian ministries and the state corporation Rostec are also discussing the introduction of a passenger levy for the purchase and operation of Russian-made aircraft. It could amount to 500 rubles for a domestic ticket and 1,000 rubles for an international one.
