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Any dual registration of foreign-owned aircraft leased by Russian carriers would be inconsistent with parts of a key agreement that sets out core principles for global aviation, the United Nations' aviation agency said by email on Friday. Russia's government said on Thursday it had proposed allowing foreign planes leased by Russian airlines to be registered as the airlines' property, and for them to be given Russian airworthiness certificates. read more Western bans imposed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine give most leasing firms until March 28 to sever ties with Russian airlines - sparking a game of cat-and-mouse from Asia to Africa as lenders frantically try to seize aircraft. Russia is trying to get around this by re-registering the foreign-owned planes in Russia, said one source familiar with discussions on the issue this week by the U.N. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)'s governing council. Since most of the foreign-owned planes operated by Russian carriers under lease are registered in Bermuda, Russia will allow the aircraft to be dual registered, a second source said. ICAO said that dual registration would not be consistent with Article 18 of the 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation, known as the Chicago Convention, which says "an aircraft cannot be validly registered in more than one state."<br/>

Bermuda's aviation regulator said it is suspending certification of all Russian-operated airplanes registered in the British overseas territory due to international sanctions over the war in Ukraine, in a move expected to affect more than 700 planes. The regulator said it was unable to confidently approve the planes as airworthy due to the impact of sanctions on its ability to conduct safety oversight. Manufacturers are no longer providing parts to Russian airlines as part of the sanctions. The decision by Bermuda's Civil Aviation Authority announced on its website late on Saturday would normally lead to the planes being grounded as of its deadline of 2359 GMT on Saturday. No plane is permitted to fly without a certificate of airworthiness, which is issued by the civil aviation authority in the country where the plane is registered. In this case, however, flight tracking website FlightRadar24 showed a few dozen Bermuda-registered planes were flying over Russia's airspace as of 1550 GMT on Sunday. Of the nearly 1,000 planes in the Russian fleet, 745 were registered in Bermuda, aviation consulting firm IBA said on March 1. Of those, 713 were leased and 32 owned. Russia's government said on Thursday it had proposed allowing foreign planes leased by Russian airlines to be registered as the airlines' property, and for them to be given Russian airworthiness certificates. The move followed Russia's state aviation authority recommending that Russian airlines with foreign-leased aircraft suspend flights of passengers and cargo abroad, making it harder for lessors to repossess the planes. Global leasing companies staring at an imminent deadline to repossess more than 400 jets worth almost $10b from Russian airlines have received mostly radio silence as experts warn of legal wrangling that could last a decade. <br/>

Eight aircraft with Russian connections have been removed from the Isle of Man's Aircraft Registry, the government has said. It comes amid a search for assets held by those linked to the country following the invasion of Ukraine. The aircraft were deregistered in line with UK sanctions, which have been mirrored by the island's government. Chief Minister Alfred Cannan said the island "will not be a safe haven for Russian money or assets". Any penalties introduced by the UK, which has constitutional responsibility for the island's international relations, are automatically implemented by Manx authorities. The eight aircraft were identified as part of an ongoing review of the island's ship and air registries for any connections to Russia, a government spokesman said. No connections to the Isle of Man Ship Registry have yet been identified, although further action was "likely to follow as the situation evolves", he said. He added that sanctions listings were being reviewed each day to ensure that steps that "support the co-ordinated international response" were taken. It comes as the island's Financial Services Authority (FSA) told firms to be "vigilant" in the enforcement of sanctions against those listed by the UK. The regulator said it was aware that some businesses have Russian customers or connections, and stressed it was "imperative" island firms carried out their anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism obligations. In a letter to the industry, the FSA warned companies to be alert to any effort to circumvent sanctions, including changes of ownership, adding there had "never been a more important time" for compliance officers.<br/>

Russia is working on sourcing spare parts for aircraft from China and other Asian countries, the transport ministry said on Friday, and has not yet decided whether to buy foreign airplanes leased by Russian airlines. Sanctions have already cut off the supply of most aircraft and parts to Russia and forced its carriers to cancel many international flights for fear their aircraft will be seized by foreign lessors or banks. An official at Russia's aviation authority said on Thursday China had refused to supply Russian airlines with aircraft parts, after Boeing (BA.N) and Airbus (AIR.PA) halted supply of components. "Questions of supplies of spare parts from China and other Asian contries are being worked out," said Alina Malysheva, director of the transport ministry's legal support department, in a meeting with lawmakers from the Federation Council, the Russian parliament's upper house. She said 739 of Russia's 1,367 airplanes are currently registered abroad and that Russian aircraft may be able to be registered in Russia without being taken off foreign registers. "A decision on buying (planes) has not yet been taken," Malysheva said. Russia on Thursday published a draft law that could prevent its airlines returning leased aircraft, raising the stakes in a showdown with Western finance over $10b of jets. <br/>

As Russia's economy gets pummeled by increasingly severe western sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine, the country's crucial airline industry could soon find itself on life support. Russian airlines have been essentially cut off from much of the world. But that is the least of the industry's problems. Russia's domestic airline industry could soon become a mere shell of its former self due to restrictions on its operations. Sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union mean that the world's two major aircraft makers, Boeing (BA) and Airbus (EADSF), are no longer able to supply spare parts or provide maintenance support for Russian airlines. The same is true of jet engine makers. That means Russian airlines could run out of necessary parts within a matter of weeks, or fly planes without having equipment replaced as frequently as recommended to operate safely. "The priority of the Russian government doesn't include consumer safety and reliability," said Charles Lichfield, the deputy director of GeoEconomics Center at the Atlantic Council, an international think tank. Russia's major carrier, Aeroflot, has been cut off from Sabre, which had provided the computing backbone that allowed the airline to easily book tickets. And aircraft leasing companies, which own about 80% of the nearly 900 commercial planes in Russia's fleet, have been ordered to repossess those planes by the end of this month. Those leased planes have a declared value of $13.3b, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium, although the true market value at the moment is likely a fraction of that. "Within a year Russia will cease to have any kind of viable airline industry," said Richard Aboulafia, managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory. He said the country's airline industry could soon find itself somewhere between the heavily sanctioned industries in Iran and North Korea. That poses a serious problem for Russia's overall economic activity. <br/>

Hope has faded quickly for a handful of Western companies eager to recover planes leased to airlines in Russia, with the authorities there intent on keeping foreign-registered aircraft within the country and President Vladimir V. Putin openly discussing nationalizing the assets of foreign businesses. As of Thursday, there were 523 aircraft leased to Russian carriers by companies outside the country, according to IBA, a consulting firm. Of those, 101 are on lease to S7 Airlines and 89 to Aeroflot. Both airlines have stopped flying internationally, eliminating any chance of repossessing the planes on foreign soil. “The general consensus is: That’s it, we will not be able to recover them,” said Vitaly Guzhva, a finance professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Dr. Guzhva and others who attended a recent industry conference in San Diego said the predicament for the leasing companies was the talk of the event, held by the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading. Experts there generally aligned around the view that the companies were facing the possibility of huge losses, they said. All told, the planes are worth as much as $12b, according to Ishka, an aviation consulting firm. AerCap, the world’s largest leasing company for commercial aircraft, has 142 leased planes in Russia, more than any other company, according to IBA. AerCap declined to comment, but said in a recent financial disclosure that its aircraft in Russia account for about 5% of its fleet. SMBC Aviation Capital, which did not respond to a request for comment, is the second-most exposed business, with 35 leased planes in Russia. Under European sanctions, lessors such as AerCap and SMBC, which are based in Ireland, have until March 28 to terminate contracts with the Russian airlines and get their planes back. On Thursday, David Walton, the COO of BOC Aviation, a leasing company based in Singapore, said the March 28 deadline was “frankly an unrealistic timetable” to get hundreds of planes out of the country. As of late February, Russian airlines were using 18 BOC-owned aircraft, or about 4.8% of the company’s fleet. Story has more.<br/>

China placed the 17.5m residents of the southern city of Shenzhen into lockdown for at least a week, spurring a key Apple Inc. supplier to halt production as authorities sought to gain control of a spreading Covid-19 outbreak in the vital technology hub. The lockdown, which came after virus cases doubled nationwide to nearly 3,400, will be accompanied by three rounds of city-wide, mass testing. Called with little notice on Sunday, the order followed earlier restrictions placed on Shenzhen’s central business district, and will last until March 20. All bus and subway systems were shut, and businesses, except those providing essential services, have been closed. Employees were told to work from home if they can. Residents will be barred from leaving Shenzhen -- home to the headquarters of tech giants Huawei Technologies and Tencent Holdings, as well as one of China’s busiest ports -- except in limited situations. Shenzhen Yantian Port remains operational, though with tighter Covid controls. Apple supplier Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., known as Foxconn, said it was halting operations at its Shenzhen sites, one of which makes iPhones. The company, which has its China HQ in Shenzhen, didn’t specify the length of the shutdown, though said it would reallocate production to other plants in the country. Chipmaker Umicron Technology Corp. also suspended output.The surge in infections in Shenzhen is thought to be linked to an unbridled outbreak in neighboring Hong Kong, which went from a handful of cases to more than 30,000 in about a month. A Covid flareup in Shanghai has also seen most schools returned to online learning and travel into the city restricted. Bus services from other provinces were halted at the weekend, and China’s aviation regulator is in discussions with airlines about diverting all international flights into the financial center, Bloomberg News reported Friday.<br/>

The airline industry's hopes are rising as the government announced eased mandatory quarantine measures for overseas travel, Friday. Starting on March 21, those who have completed vaccination in Korea and abroad and registered their vaccination history on the COOV application will be exempt from mandatory quarantine. The current compulsory seven-day quarantine on all overseas arrivals will be scrapped. Hit hard by the prolonged pandemic, airlines expect the lifting of the mandatory quarantine measures to result in an increase in passengers. "Currently, close to 90% of our international flights have been grounded, but the easing of the quarantine measures will likely help a resumption of the flights," a major airline official said. The airline industry is anticipating a recovery in passenger demand as the prolonged pandemic pulled down their earnings. Jeju Air suffered an operating loss of 323.4b won ($262.1m) last year, Jin Air 194.2b won, T'way Air 157b won and Air Busan 204.3b won. Korean Air, the country's leading airline, was able to achieve an annual surplus thanks to its cargo business, but its passenger operations were sluggish. Last year, the passenger business achieved sales of 1.83t won, which was down 86.05% compared to 2019, before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, starting next month, those who have been vaccinated abroad and have not registered their vaccination history will also be exempt from the quarantine obligation. In other words, as long as vaccinations have been completed, oversea travelers will not have to be quarantined, which is expected to increase travel demand.<br/>

Airport services and flights across Germany are likely to be affected Monday after a union called for an all-day walkout over a pay dispute for security personnel. The Verdi union said it’s calling for protest action at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport on Monday by security staff working in passenger screening, and personnel and goods control. The walkout from 4 a.m. to midnight is part of nationwide walkouts that day by security workers that will also affect Bremen, Hanover, Leipzig, Duesseldorf and Cologne/Bonn airports. “We expect significant disruptions to air traffic,” though possible delays on national and international routes are unquantifiable, Verdi representative Helge Biering said on Saturday. Three rounds of negotiations on pay increases for 25,000 security staff at commercial airports between Verdi and BDLS, the association of aviation security companies, ended without results, the union said. Collective bargaining will continue on March 16 and 17 in Berlin.<br/>

The number of people flying to and from Heathrow airport has remained down by nearly 50% on pre-pandemic levels. Figures released by the west London airport show it was used by 2.9m passengers last month. In February 2020, just before the pandemic caused people to stay at home, it was used by 5.4m. An airport spokesperson said outbound leisure travel was "recovering strongly" but demand for inbound flights remained supressed. Coronavirus testing and quarantine requirements still apply in nearly two-thirds of the markets it serves. The spokesperson added that the industry faced "headwinds" resulting from Russia's invasion of Ukraine such as higher fuel prices, longer flight times on routes affected by airspace closures and concerns from US travellers about war in Europe. The likelihood of new coronavirus variants of concern emerging was also a potential threat to growth, the spokesperson said. The latest figures are 15% below what was forecast. However, the spokesperson said the strength of outbound leisure bookings reported by airlines indicated its busiest days this summer could see demand return to 85% of pre-pandemic levels.<br/>

Heathrow is to hire 12,000 staff to handle an expected summer holiday boom, the UK’s busiest airport has said, as it warned the recovery in the aviation industry is “being overshadowed by war and Covid”. Passenger numbers at the London hub were almost half pre-pandemic levels last month – and 15% below Heathrow’s own forecast – at only 2.8m passengers. “Aviation’s recovery remains overshadowed by war and Covid uncertainty,” said John Holland-Kaye, the CE of Heathrow. “But we need to ensure we are geared up to meet peak potential demand this summer.” Heathrow said that at the busiest times this summer it expects passenger numbers to reach 85% of pre-pandemic levels. But it said the airport would feel significantly busier than that because of additional pre-departure checks, and it needed to embark on a recruitment drive. “This is higher than current airline, handler and airport capacity,” Heathrow said. “So we are putting passengers first by gearing up across the airport for peak demand, working with airlines to reduce check-in times and recruiting 12,000 new colleagues, as well as reopening terminal 4 before July.” Heathrow added that it was “particularly concerned over Border Force’s ability to scale up to meet demand” for the summer crowds. Failures in passport e-gates as well as additional Covid requirements have at times caused long queues in the immigration halls. Its rival London airport, Gatwick, has also predicted a summer surge, with passenger levels returning to 85% of pre-pandemic levels.<br/>

Leeds Bradford Airport still aims to almost double passenger numbers despite scrapping plans for a new terminal building, its CE has said. Vincent Hodder said the existing building would be expanded to cope with up to seven million passengers. On Thursday the airport dropped its plan for a new GBP150m terminal. Bosses said they had withdrawn the proposals because of "excessive delays" and the decision to hold a public inquiry into the development. Hodder said the airport would now press ahead with existing terminal expansion plans, which were approved by Leeds City Council in 2019. He described the shelving of the new building scheme as a "massive disappointment". "It's forced us to go back and relook at our options and all the other different pathways we could follow to deliver the growth for the airport," he said. "If we take the approvals that we already have and work with those in a really creative way we're able to move forward from now with certainty and deliver exactly what our customers need which is a modern decarbonized airport with the capacity for seven million passengers."<br/>

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday that talks with the Taliban on operating the Kabul airport were still underway, a day after he met acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in southern Turkey. Turkey has said it would be open to operating Kabul's Hamid Karzai international airport along with Qatar, following the takeover of Afghanistan by the hardline Islamist Taliban in August, but only if its security demands are met. Asked about inviting Taliban officials to a diplomacy forum in southern Turkey at the weekend, Cavusoglu said this did not mean Ankara recognised the Taliban leadership, but added the interim government in Afghanistan must be heard.<br/>

The Asia Pacific region will need over 17,600 new aircraft by 2040 to accommodate passenger traffic growth and retirement of older fleet, says Airbus International. Passenger traffic growth of 5.3% per annum and the retirement of older, less fuel efficient aircraft will see the region require 17,620 new passenger and freighter aircraft. Airbus International CCO Christian Scherer is optimistic about the growth of aviation sector in the region. “We are seeing a global recovery in air traffic and as travel restrictions are further eased the Asia Pacific region will become one of its main drivers again,” he said. In a region which is home to 55% of the world’s population, China, India and emerging economies such as Vietnam and Indonesia will be the principal drivers of growth in Asia Pacific. Meanwhile, the middle class – who are the likeliest group to travel – will increase by 1.1b to 3.2b. What this means is that the likelihood for people to travel is set to almost triple by 2040. The aforementioned statistics spell good news for an industry that’s been battered by Covid-19, said Scherer.<br/>

Boeing is yet to see any respite from a freeze in deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner - but that has not stopped it testing suppliers' capacity to meet output scenarios as high as seven a month by end-2023, three people with knowledge of the matter said. The planemaker has stopped making public predictions on when it will win approval from US regulators to resume deliveries, halted for nearly a year by factory defects in a still-running saga that is costing $5.5b overall. While some industry sources have pegged a delivery restart as early as next month, the date is increasingly under scrutiny with April just days away. Boeing's recovery plan could see it increase the current rock-bottom monthly rate of two 787s to three around May, if deliveries have started by then, and again to four around November, two of the people said. From there, suppliers have been asked to be ready to tackle rates as high as seven a month around October 2023, if requested, the sources added. But, the people said, it has discussed what some analysts consider ambitious scenarios with parts makers as it surveys an industry crippled by successive crises and now facing labor and materials shortages deepened by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Boeing's production strategy hinges on several key unknowns including when deliveries restart, how quickly it can reduce an overhang of more than 100 undelivered 787s and the extent to which the Ukraine crisis dampens already weak demand.<br/>

Airlines may find themselves swept up in unprecedented turbulence -- with air travel shunned over climate concerns, plagued by pandemic shutdowns and soaring oil prices -- but for private jet operators, business is booming. The appeal of private jets has taken off since the start of the pandemic, amid fear of catching Covid-19 and as widespread cancellations and stringent measures have turned flying commercial into a logistics headache. "The impact of Covid really forced people to look elsewhere for their travel needs," said Philippe Scalabrini, who heads the southern European division of the international private aviation company VistaJet. "Anyone who can afford it wants an entire plane at their disposal," he said, adding that "private aviation, as whole, has had an incredible surge of demand over the past two years." Numbers from air traffic regulator Eurocontrol appear to confirm that. It found that private air travel nearly doubled its global market share between 2019 and 2021, when it stood at 12%. Standing inside the newest addition to the VistaJet fleet, the Global 7500 built by Canadian business jet maker Bombardier, Scalabrini showed off what air travel can look like in that exclusive market. Abord the luxury plane, costing a whopping $72m, clients can enjoy plush cream-coloured leather chairs, a large double bed, and wine tasting. To limit jet lag, the cabin pressure can be better regulated than on commercial flights, allowing clients to sleep as soundly "as at their cabin in Saint-Moritz", the chic Alpine ski resort, Scalabrini said. More than anything, the pandemic has driven the latest upsurge in demand. Scalabrini said "the Covid effect" last year helped VistaJet swell the number of flying hours sold by 90%. And the company, founded in 2004 by Swiss billionaire Thomas Flohr, announced last month the purchase of Air Hamburg, in a move it said would help grow its flying hours by another 30%.<br/>