Turkish company issues warning to Belarusian airline over US aircraft

February 2, BPN. Turkey’s Havaş, a subsidiary of TAV Airports, the country’s largest operator of airport ground handling services, has warned airlines from Belarus, Iran and Russia that is would not service their aircraft citing the US sanctions, Turkey’s haber.aero reported.

The news comes weeks after senior American officials warned in December that Turkish individuals are at risk of jail time, fines, loss of export privileges and other measures if they provide services like refueling and spare parts to U.S.-made planes flying to and from Russia and Belarus in violation of export controls imposed last year.

In late May 2022, Israel reportedly refused to service Belavia aircraft at Ben Gurion airport even though Belavia claimed it had obtained an official permit to fly.

In mid-June 2022, the US Department of Commerce took an enforcement action against Belavia for flying Boeing aircraft in violation of restrictions imposed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The world’s companies were prohibited from using American parts or equipment to service the Belavia fleet.

The Biden administration imposed export controls barring Russia from using US-made aircraft last February in response to the attack on Ukraine. The export controls now bar any aircraft made in the US or those that include more than 25 percent US-controlled parts from flying into Russia or Belarus without a license issued by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security.

Russian and Belarusian airlines, including Moscow’s majority state-owned Aeroflot, have operated more than 2,100 flights using U.S.-made planes including Boeing 777s, 757s and 737s to Turkey since October 1, according to data from aviation-analytics firm Cirium.