A wonderful blow against Russian commercial operators! Bermuda CAA suspends certificates of 740 Russian aircraft on the VP-B and VQ-B registry (82% of total registry) which are operated by Russian commercial operators. In Total Bermuda has 900 aircraft on its offshore registry.

Bermuda CAA suspends certificates of Russian aircraft
ByAndré Orban -13 March 2022

The Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority [BCAA] has “provisionally suspended all Certificates of Airworthiness” of the aircraft operating under the “agreement between Bermuda and the Russian Federation.” Many Russian airlines indeed are registering their aircraft in the Bermuda Registry (VP-B** and VQ-B**) in order to have them accepted on airports worldwide.

In a press release of 12 March, the BCAA writes, “International sanctions on the aviation sector have had a significant impact on the ability to sustain safety oversight on Russian operated aircraft on the Bermuda Aircraft Registry.

“The airworthiness system has been restricted to the point that the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority [BCAA] is unable to confidently approve these aircraft as being airworthy.

“Therefore, as of 23:59 UTC on March 12th, 2022, the BCAA has provisionally suspended all Certificates of Airworthiness of those aircraft operating under the Article 83bis Agreement between Bermuda and the Russian Federation.

“For any aircraft airborne at 23:59 UTC on March 12th, 2022, the provisional suspension is effective immediately upon landing.”

The Bermuda Government previously confirmed that there are approximately 900 aircraft on the Registry of which approximately 740 are utilised by Russian air operators.

Premier David Burt previously confirmed that the island, in effect, will follow UK sanctions, saying, “In response to the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, many countries including the United Kingdom, have introduced a wide range of sanctions against the Russian Federation.

“Once implemented, UK sanctions are applicable in Bermuda as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom,” the Premier said, and UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss previously said she is ”working closely with the Overseas Territories to make sure that Putin’s oligarchs have nowhere to hide.”

Russia has started re-registering aircraft on its national Registry. Around 180 aircraft have been registered in the Russian state register of civil aircraft since the end of February. These include aircraft of Aeroflot, Pobeda, UTair, Rossiya, and Izhavia airlines.