Parked Russian Boeing 747 And 737 Reactivated After 2 Years

• Two Russian aircraft reactivated post-invasion, one possibly repossessed, 2nd changed registration to continue operation for UTair Airlines.
• Operators parked Western-built aircraft due to sanctions and were unable to source parts. Some changed reg. to steal assets from foreign lessors.
• 747-8F and 737-800 were parked in March 202
• VP-BIN repossessed, while VQ-BDG changed reg. to RA73145 for commercial operations.

Two aircraft operated by airlines in the Russian Federation were reactivated this week, marking the first time they moved following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The first aircraft, a Boeing 747-8F still carrying a Bermudan registration, could have been repossessed, while the second, a Boeing 737-800, changed its registration to continue operations for UTair Airlines.

Both aircraft were parked in March 2022, a month after the launch of the invasion. During this time, additional economic sanctions on Russia had prompted many operators in the country to park their Western-built aircraft due to difficulty sourcing spare parts and issuing changes of aircraft registration to steal the assets from foreign lessors.

The 747-8F

The first aircraft was a 747-8F operated by AirBridgeCargo. The aircraft had left Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO) on March 12th for Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport (PVG). The eight-hour-and-36-minute flight was the first time that 747-8F had flown since entering storage at SVO on March 6th.

For the flight to Shanghai, the eight-year-old 747-8F still carried its Bermudan registration, VP-BIN. Other aircraft operators in Russia have reregistered their aircraft in their own country. AirBridgeCargo, for its part, has 12 747-8s and three 747-400Fs that have remained parked since March 2022 and are still affiliated with their Bermudan registrations.

VP-BIN was delivered to AirBridgeCargo in February 2020. The aircraft had previously been in service with AirBridgeCargo’s UK affiliate, CargoLogicAir. The British airline was linked to Volga-Dnepr Group, which owns AirBridgeCargo.

Previous repossessions

Singapore-based aircraft lessor BOC Aviation had leased VP-BIN and other 747s to AirBridgeCargo. The lessor repossessed one of the other leased 747-8Fs while the aircraft was visiting Hong Kong (HKG) for maintenance in March 2022. US Courts have since ordered the Russian cargo airline to pay more than $400 million in fines to the lessor.

At the time, the US district court of the Southern District of New York had authorized the aircraft repossession, and the aircraft, registered VQ-BFE, flew from HKG to San Bernadino International Airport (SBD) before being placed into long-term storage at Marana (MZJ).

After several months of storage, VQ-BFE would change its registration to OE-LFI and join Air Belgium for operations for the Hongyuan Group. OE-LFI never operated and was sent back to storage at Cincinnati International Airport (CVG), where it has remained since October 2023.

VP-BIN, like VQ-BFE, was repossessed, according to a local report. BOC Aviation did not respond to Simple Flying’s inquiry. For its part, BOC Aviation is owned by the Bank of China and currently owns 426 aircraft that are placed with more than 91 customers, according to its website.

None of AirBridgeCargo’s aircraft have flown since the early days of the full-scale invasion. Volga-Dnepr, meanwhile, continues operations with a small fleet of Soviet-built aircraft, including the Il-76 and An-124.

The 737-800

The second reactivated aircraft, a 17-year-old 737-800 operated by UTair, had been placed in storage at Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport (VKO) since March 9th, 2022. Before the war, the aircraft was registered in Bermuda as VQ-BDG. It was briefly observed on Flightradar24.com on February 27th, 2024.

Russian operators had opted to maintain Bermudan registrations due to an international aviation agreement known as Article 83 bis, which allows Bermuda to transfer certain functions and duties to Russia and maintain aircraft at higher maintenance standards necessary for commercial operations outside of Russia.

Under a new Russian registration of RA73145, the aircraft had a test flight at VKO on March 6th, 2024, before entering service two days later. The aircraft has flown at least 31 times since its reactivation, including a flight from Surgut International Airport (SGC) to VKO on March 16th.

VQ-BDG was previously owned by BOC Aviation before being purchased by several different lessors, ending with Ireland-based Carlyle Aviation Partners. According to the Insurance Journal, Carlyle had leased more than 23 aircraft to Russian airlines. The lessor had successfully repossessed a few other aircraft, with others being stolen. Carlyle Aviation Partners sued aircraft insurance companies for canceling policies on aircraft that it said were stuck in Russia,