Russia on Monday passed a law allowing the country’s airlines to place airplanes leased from foreign companies on the country’s aircraft register – a manoeuvre likely to stoke Western fears of a mass default involving hundreds of jetliners. The bill, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, has rattled global leasing firms days before a March 28 deadline to repossess aircraft worth $10 billion as a result of Western sanctions imposed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian airlines have almost 780 leased jets, with 515 leased from abroad. The new law, part of Russia’s measures to combat the sanctions, says it aims “to ensure the uninterrupted functioning of activities in the field of civil aviation”. It […]