S7 Airlines reregisters 45 foreign aircraft to Russian ownership

MOSCOW. Dec 22 (Interfax) - S7 Airlines has completed a settlement deal with a group of foreign lessors with the participation of the SK NSK insurance company for 45 medium-haul aircraft and 4 aircraft engines, the airline said.

"In accordance with the agreements reached, the lessors, including AerCap, ALC, and SMBC Aviation Capital, ended their claims against Russian parties both under the insurance policies and lease agreements for these aircraft," the statement says.

Negotiations for aircraft with other foreign lessors are ongoing, the airline said. As noted, S7 is getting legal support from Better Chance.

The 45 aircraft make up almost 50% of the S7 fleet, the company said in a statement. According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, at the end of October the airline's operating certificate included 63 European Airbus A320/321, 19 American Boeing 737, and 17 Brazilian Embraer aircraft.

The total amount of the transaction was about 45-50 billion rubles, including from S7's own funds, an Interfax source in the aviation industry told Interfax.

Previously, Aeroflot and Ural Airlines reported insurance settlement transactions for foreign aircraft. As the head of the Ministry of Transport, Vitaly Savelyev, said at the beginning of the year, the government had allocated about 300 billion rubles for the purchase of foreign aircraft from the National Wealth Fund. Later, it was reported that airlines must also fund the deals from their own net profits.

Re-registration of foreign-manufactured aircraft under Russian ownership allows them to be used for foreign flights without the risk of arrest due to sanctions from the European Union and the United States.

S7 is the largest private aviation group in the Russian Federation, founded by married couple Vladislav and Natalia Filev.