VQ-BAT
 

I saw this A319 over the weekend and it piqued my interest because it belongs to the Russian Government. However, it has a non Russian registration which I know is a business practice used by many Russian airlines to legally circumvent various fiduciary obligations. So, why would a plane belonging to the government be using this practice, as they are de facto above the law so to say ?
Any ideas ? :8



SHJ

I imagine it's leased rather than bought, which would explain the VQ- reg. It would be very difficult to get a Russian-registered asset out of the country if it or its requirements weren't paid for, (especially at the moment I would imagine!). It does have the secondary function of allowing some fiduciary obligation avoidance as well, of course!

Thanks BL, that's cleaned up a bit of the query ;) But why would a sovereign government lease an aircraft as good as full time ? I know that certain governments do charter aircraft for specific VIP flights, but have never seen nor heard of them leasing and then operating in full colours/regalia.



SHJ

No different from a government operating a fleet of Mercedes limos under a leasing contract.

Probably obtained as part of a larger batch aquisition by Aeroflot, since the reg is in the same series as some of theirs. Maybe sub-leased from Aeroflot?

Highly likely I would say :ok: Shipped to somewhere else after basic completion to make it posh - like!

In retrospect, the Rossiya plane I saw 'might' have been moonlighting for Aeroflot to maximise usage bearing in mind that it is a leased object. Even though Aeroflot is a private/state company now, it's probably still seen as the flag carrier.



SHJ