Leasing firm sees ‘headway’ in returning planes from Russia

By DAVID KOENIG
AP Airlines Writer

An American aircraft-leasing company with some of its planes stuck in Russia says it is making progress in getting planes back. But the chairman of Los Angeles-based Air Lease Corporation didn’t give any specifics on Wednesday — such as saying how many planes the company has recovered. Russian airlines leased hundreds of jets from foreign companies, but international sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine ban the sale or leasing of aircraft to Russians. This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that lets the country’s airlines keep those planes, at least for now, and use them for flights inside Russia.