According to the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority, as of December 9, 2025, Russian carriers had deregistered at least 43 aircraft in the jurisdiction. Aeroflot was the leader, re-registering 33 aircraft in the Russian Federation. Over three years — from 2022 to 2025 — the total number of aircraft withdrawn from foreign registers reached at least 365 units (an average of 121 per year).
At the beginning of 2024, there were 300 Russian aircraft registered in the Bermuda registry: 65 for the Aeroflot Group, 33 for Ural Airlines, and 24 for UTair. By December 2025, their number had decreased to 257. Aeroflot's fleet had 32 aircraft registered in Bermuda: 21 for the parent company, 10 for Pobeda, and one for Rossiya.
Why were Russian aircraft registered in Bermuda?
Before February 2022, Russian airlines massively registered leased aircraft in foreign jurisdictions — mainly in Bermuda. This requirement of foreign lessors allowed maintaining the residual value of the equipment, which was returned to the international market after the expiration of the contract. After the introduction of Western sanctions and the ban on the export of aviation components to Russia, lessors demanded the return of assets. Russian authorities banned the export of aircraft, and Bermuda suspended airworthiness certificates, depriving the aircraft of the opportunity to operate international flights.
According to the Chicago Convention of 1944, an aircraft cannot be registered in two countries simultaneously. The only legal way to re-register in the Russian Federation is through insurance settlement: the purchase of the vessel from a foreign owner through the payment by the insurer of an agreed amount, after which the lessor withdraws the claims and transfers ownership. Only after that can the aircraft be registered in Russia and used without restrictions.
Settlements completed for 33 aircraft
A representative of Aeroflot reported that in 11 months of 2025, the company completed insurance settlements for 33 aircraft. In total, the group has 303 aircraft out of 349 without double registration. Financing of buyouts was carried out at the expense of own and borrowed funds on market terms. Six aircraft are in the final stage of settlement; budget funds are not planned for them. Other cases are more complex due to the participation of Russian creditors in previous leasing schemes.
S7 confirmed that it did not withdraw a single aircraft from the Bermuda registry in 2025. Since 2022, the company has removed 45 aircraft and continues negotiations on others, but does not specify exact dates. Ural Airlines, UTair, and Smartavia (13 aircraft) did not respond to requests. Azur completed settlement for one Boeing 757 and plans to work on the Boeing 777 in 2026.
