24.05.2022 - 00:05 UTC
The United States Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has added Rossiya (FV, St. Petersburg) as the fifth Russian airline subject to an export denial order and thus prohibiting any company, US-based or otherwise, from selling US-produced goods and services to the carrier.
"Our powerful coordination with our international partners is cutting off Russia's ability to acquire the parts and inputs it needs to sustain its military aggression, and today's action furthers the enforcement efforts necessary to ensure those restrictions are complied with. Today's Temporary Denial Order (TDO) on Rossiya is another strong message to Putin's government that the US will remain vigilant and will not hesitate to use our law enforcement tools against Russian companies and individuals that violate the law," said Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez.
The BIS previously issued similar orders covering Aeroflot, Azur Air, UTair, and Aviastar-TU. The TDOs are more far-reaching than the general sanctions, which prohibit the sale of any aviation-related goods and services to Russia. Any third-country entity found...
23.05.2022 - 09:58 UTC
The United Kingdom has imposed an additional round of sanctions on Russian carriers, stripping them of their slots at the country's airports with no possibility of reselling them or receiving any other compensation.
"As long as Putin continues his barbarous assault on Ukraine, we will continue to target the Russian economy. We've already closed our airspace to Russian airlines. Today we're making sure they can't cash in their lucrative landing slots at our airports," Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.
"The UK Government has built on the strong action we have already taken against Russia's flagship carrier Aeroflot, along with Rossiya and Ural Airlines. This means they will be unable to use their expensive landing slots at UK airports. Our actions will also prevent Russia from selling the slots, and cashing in on up to GBP50 million pounds (USD62.5 million)," Transport Secretary Grant Shapps added.
Airport Coordination Limited (ACL-UK) later clarified that the airlines will not receive any slots for the upcoming Winter 2022/23 season, even though they are entitled to them under the...
23.05.2022 - 03:46 UTC
Khoroshevsky District Court in Moscow has arrested in absentia Andrey Panov, a former deputy general director of Aeroflot for strategy and marketing, who left Russia in early March, local media reported citing court filings. He has called his persecution politically motivated and related to his statements about Russia’s “special operation” in Ukraine.
He has been charged under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code, which covers fraud committed by an organised group or on a large scale, the maximum penalty for which is ten years in prison. The accusation is ostensibly related to a contract to develop the flag carrier’s marketing strategy, which it signed with Boston-based consultants Bain & Company in 2019 for RUB200 million rubles (USD3.2 million), a source told RBK TV.
Panov, who was previously a partner at Bain & Company in Moscow, participated in creating the strategy for Aeroflot Group, which also includes Pobeda and Rossiya. The strategy was approved in 2020 and envisaged an increase in the group’s passenger traffic from 60.7 million to 130 million passengers by...
20.05.2022 - 07:32 UTC
Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul New) has ordered six A350-900s from Airbus with delivery slots in 2022 and 2023.
The carrier did not disclose any further information in its one-line investor update. The imminent delivery timings have sparked widespread speculation that six units are those not taken up by Aeroflot (SU, Moscow Sheremetyevo) due to European sanctions banning the export of aircraft to Russia. Turkish Airlines did not respond to ch-aviation's request for comment.
The Turkish carrier's widebody fleet comprises thirteen A330-200s, thirty-seven A330-300s, six A350-900s (with twenty more - including the newly added six - on firm order), thirty-three B777-300(ER)s, and fifteen B787-9s.
Aeroflot has firm orders for thirteen A350-900s (on top of nine already delivered). Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt Int'l) has openly admitted that it was in talks about taking over at least some of these orders as Airbus is unable to deliver them.
