Parts drought forces Russia’s UTair to ground 30% of copters

US DOJ issues warrant to seize Rosneft B737-700(BBJ)

The United States Department of Justice unsealed a warrant to seize a B737-700(BBJ), RA-73455 (msn 38855), owned by Russian state-owned oil and gas conglomerate Rosneft for alleged multiple violations of export sanctions.

The US District Court for the Eastern District of New York authorised the seizure due to probable cause that the aircraft violated the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) and recent sanctions imposed on Russia. Specifically, the US authorities identified at least seven occasions on which the Boeing executive jet left Russia and then re-entered the country. US-made aircraft covered by sanctions are not allowed to enter Russia from abroad.

Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows the jet has been deployed from Russia to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, India, and the Maldives over the last year. The 11.4-year-old aircraft is operated for Rosneft by Ural Airlines (U6, Ekaterinburg) and is based at Moscow Vnukovo airport. The same carrier also operates another B737-700(BBJ) on behalf of Lukoil-Avia (LUK, Moscow Sheremetyevo), according to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module.

Both Rosneft...

Tajik Air looks to restart using leased capacity

US warns Türkiye over servicing Russian, Belarus carriers

Turkish airport ground handler Havaş has warned Russian and Belarusian airlines that it may no longer be able to serve around 180 Boeing and other aircraft due to United States sanctions, Russia’s RBK TV channel reported.

The ban would include refuelling, maintenance, and repair of any aircraft in which more than 25% of American parts and technologies have been used - a general de-minimis rule for what constitutes a US product.

The development follows the emergence of reports last week that Washington was leaning on Türkiye to stop Russian carriers from operating flights there with Boeing jets, as it tries to more comprehensively enforce sanctions imposed on Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine last February.

TAV Airports-owned Havaş, Türkiye’s largest ground handler, dispatched a letter to Russia dated January 31 saying: “We are running a due-diligence process to identify the risks and consequences to our business and stakeholders. As a result of this, we may find ourselves unable to serve some or all of your flights.”

The letter, which circulated on social media channels...

Russia’s Aeroflot resumes its own flights to Kazakhstan

Aeroflot (SU, Moscow Sheremetyevo) has said it will resume scheduled flights to Kazakhstan starting February 1, despite the possibility its non-Russian aircraft could be seized while they are there.

The Russian flag carrier will start flights to Almaty (3x daily), Astana (Nur-Sultan Nazarbayev, 2x daily), and Atyrau (2x weekly rising to 3x weekly in March), using Airbus A320 Family aircraft, it said.

Aeroflot Group already operates between Russia and Kazakhstan through its subsidiary Rossiya (FV, St. Petersburg), the ch-aviation schedules module shows, from Moscow Sheremetyevo to Aktau, Aktobe, Almaty, Astana, Atyrau, Karaganda, and Kostanay, all with Russian-made SSJ 100/95 equipment.

Aeroflot has been careful not to operate a substantial part of its fleet to international destinations due to the risk of lessors seizing the aircraft they leased to the carrier, which have been stranded in Russia since sanctions were imposed following the invasion of Ukraine.

However, an official in Kazakhstan’s government told the US-based Central Asia news specialist...