Aeroflot buys eight stranded Airbuses from foreign leasing firms

Russia's biggest airline, Aeroflot, said on Friday it had bought eight Airbus A330 aircraft from foreign leasing companies "as part of the fulfilment of contractual obligations". More than 400 aircraft leased from Western firms, worth almost $10b, have been stranded in Russia since Western sanctions forced the lessors to terminate their contracts and Russia barred its airlines from returning the planes. Aeroflot did not specify which firms the aircraft had been leased from. But the purchase could be a bid to maintain good relations with lessors by making use of an exemption to European Union sanctions against Russia in respect of aircraft financial leases - which involve purchase when the lease ends. To ensure that they can continue to have valid airworthiness certificates and Russian airlines can keep using them, Russian authorities have been transferring the aircraft to Russia's own registry.<br/>