China Closes Airspace to Russian Airbus, Boeing Aircraft

[In The News]

DALLAS – China is prohibiting Russian Boeing and Airbus aircraft owned by foreign leasing companies from flying through its territory.

According to the Russian news outlet RBK (RBC Group), the ban affects equipment whose legal status has not been confirmed following Western sanctions as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and their re-registration in Russia.

According to the report, China has requested proof that the aircraft in question are no longer registered outside of Russia. The sanctions imposed by the West in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 provide context. Because of the military assault authorized by the Kremlin, the EU and the US have banned the supply, maintenance, and insurance of civilian aircraft and spare parts to Russia.

Western leasing companies that have terminated their Russian contractors own a large portion of Russia’s air fleet. Moscow, for its part, has refused to return the planes and has re-registered them without delay.

In May the Chinese aviation authorities asked all airlines, not only Russian ones, to update electronic dossiers (portfolios; they contain information about aircraft, owners of airlines, and ground handling contracts). Requesting such portfolios is a standard procedure. But according to RBK, the procedure has been recently amended in China.

According to RBK, the airlines have been unable to produce such documents. This is why the Chinese aviation authorities, observing the international air law, denied the flights of such planes.

This is a developing story.

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Featured image: Aeroflot A330-300 aircraft. Photo: Davide Calabresi/Airways

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