Sanctions-hit Belarus looks to Gambia to boost its depleted air fleet

Sanctions-hit Belarusian flag carrier Belavia is on the cusp of adding three Airbus planes to its depleted fleet after repurposing aircraft that had previously belonged to Gambian airline Magic Air , three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Western sanctions imposed on Belarus and its larger neighbour Russia after Minsk forced a Ryanair plane to land in the Belarusian capital and following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine mean the two staunch allies face a shortage of planes, particularly large passenger aircraft. Belarus and Russia share a borderless union state. The three wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft, which can typically carry around 250 passengers each, were all registered to Magic Air when they landed in Minsk on August 17, 2024, records by Flightradar24 and two other flight tracking services providers reviewed by Reuters show. State-owned Belavia is in the process of signing a contract to buy the planes, which arrived in very poor technical conditions, and plans to start flying them this spring-summer season, one of the sources said. Should Belavia succeed, it could give Russia a blueprint for circumventing sanctions through the use of non-Western nations' planes, according to industry experts. The United States reached separate deals on Tuesday with Ukraine and Russia to pause their attacks at sea and against energy targets, with Washington agreeing to push to lift some sanctions against Moscow. While Western sanctions on Belarus and Russia have sought to cut access to aircraft parts, many countries, including Gambia, have not signed up to those restrictions and have no obligation to enforce them.<br/>