According to data from the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority as of December 9, 2025, Russian carriers deregistered at least 43 aircraft from that jurisdiction. The leader was Aeroflot, which re-registered 33 aircraft in Russia. Over three years — from 2022 to 2025 — the total number of aircraft removed from foreign registries reached at least 365 units (an average of 121 per year).
At the beginning of 2024, 300 Russian aircraft were listed in the Bermuda registry: 65 in the Aeroflot Group, 33 at Ural Airlines, and 24 at UTair. By December 2025, their number had decreased to 257. Aeroflot's fleet still had 32 aircraft registered in Bermuda: 21 with the parent company, 10 with Pobeda, and one with Rossiya.
Why were Russian aircraft registered in Bermuda?
Before February 2022, Russian airlines widely registered leased aircraft in foreign jurisdictions — primarily in Bermuda. This requirement from foreign lessors made it possible to preserve the residual value of the equipment, which was returned to the international market after the contract ended. After Western sanctions were imposed and the export of aviation components to Russia was banned, lessors demanded the return of their assets. The Russian authorities banned the export of aircraft, while Bermuda suspended airworthiness certificates, depriving the planes of the ability to operate international flights.
Under the 1944 Chicago Convention, an aircraft cannot be registered in two countries simultaneously. The only legal path to re-registration in Russia is an insurance settlement: purchasing the aircraft from the foreign owner through payment by the insurer of an agreed amount, after which the lessor withdraws claims and transfers ownership rights. Only after that can the aircraft be registered in Russia and used without restrictions.
Settlements completed for 33 aircraft
An Aeroflot representative said that in the first 11 months of 2025, the company completed insurance settlements for 33 aircraft. In total, the group has 303 aircraft out of 349 without dual registration. Financing for the buyouts was provided through its own and borrowed funds on market terms. Six aircraft are in the final stage of settlement; no budget funds are planned for them. The remaining cases are more complicated due to the involvement of Russian creditors in previous leasing arrangements.
S7 confirmed that in 2025 it did not remove a single aircraft from the Bermuda registry. Since 2022, the company has removed 45 aircraft and continues negotiations on others, but does not name exact timeframes. Ural Airlines, UTair, and Smartavia (13 aircraft) did not respond to inquiries. Azur completed a settlement for one Boeing 757 and plans to address a Boeing 777 in 2026.