BOC Aviation says sanctions deadline to end Russian leases is 'unrealistic'

Russian travelers hemmed in by airspace closures following the invasion of Ukraine are using Serbia as a backdoor route to visit resorts and cities across Western Europe. Seat capacity between Russia and Serbia, where it has longstanding ties, surged by about 50% in the first week of March compared with pre-war levels. Onward travel to countries including France, Switzerland, Italy and Cyprus is up by almost two-thirds, according to ticketing trends specialist ForwardKeys. Aircraft lessor BOC Aviation believes a deadline giving lessors just over two weeks left to end contracts with Russian carriers due to sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine is "unrealistic", a senior executive said on Thursday. "The EU and UK sanctions set, effectively, a deadline of 28 March for termination of aircraft leases, which is frankly an unrealistic timetable for a fleet of approximately 500 aircraft leased into Russia by operating lessors," Chief Operating Officer David Walton told analysts, according to an earnings call transcript. However, he added BOC Aviation would comply with the sanctions and was discussing logistics for the recovery of its planes with customers. Russia published a draft law on Thursday that could prevent its airlines returning leased aircraft, raising the stakes in a showdown with Western finance over $10b of jets. read more BOC Aviation said its 18 planes leased to Russian airlines had a book value of $935m and could also be affected by insurance policy cancellations after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "The international aviation insurance markets are progressively cancelling certain elements of insurance policies in relation to aircraft located in Russia or leased to Russian airlines," the lessor said in its financial results. "This is a complex and rapidly developing situation that we are monitoring closely."<br/>