Sanctioned Belavia Acquires A330s Smuggled By Fake Gambian Airline

Belarusian national carrier Belavia is expanding its fleet with Airbus A330s, despite sanctions. How did the airline do this? Well, it bought planes from a Jordanian-Syrian businessman, from an airline registered in Gambia, which purchased the planes in a Turkish bankruptcy sale several years ago… as one does.

Belavia expanding fleet with three Airbus A330s

To start, let me explain that Belavia is the national airline of Belarus, and Belarus is Russia’s closest alley. So just as Russia has been subject to sanctions, Belarus has been as well. Currently, Belavia has a fleet of roughly 15 aircraft, consisting primarily of Boeing 737s and Embraer E-jets.

Much like Russian carriers, Belavia has been struggling with its fleet in recent years, given that the airline hasn’t been able to access Airbus and Boeing aircraft or parts. For example, the carrier’s fleet has shrunk by roughly half, as some leasing companies have repossessed their aircraft, in line with sanctions. Belavia has been looking for creative ways to grow its fleet, and it looks like the airline has accomplished exactly that.

Belavia is currently in the process of taking delivery of three Airbus A330-200s. The three frames are an average of 23 years old, and they’ll have the registration codes EW-587PD, EW-588PD, and EW-589PD. The planes all originally flew for Emirates, back in the day.

Two of the planes are expected to start flying later in 2025, while the third is expected to start flying in 2026. The aircraft apparently aren’t in good condition, both in terms of maintenance and passenger experience, so we’ll see how that works out, given the lack of access to parts.

It remains to be seen what exactly Belavia will do with these aircraft. Presumably we’ll only see service to “friendly” countries, like China, Russia, etc. I’m not sure if the airline really needs the range of these A330s, or if it’s just about offering higher capacity aircraft.

Fake Gambian airline Magic Air helped Belavia

The concept of aircraft being smuggled to sanctioned countries is nothing new. Russia, Iran, Syria, etc., have a lot of experience with this. As you’d expect, no reputable leasing company would send planes to a sanctioned country, since it would impact their ability to do business elsewhere.

Unsurprisingly, the story here is quite interesting. Roughly five years ago, a Jordanian businessman of Syrian origin purchased three Airbus A330s from the bankruptcy estate of Onur Air, a Turkish airline that went out of business. He then started Magic Air, an “airline” based in Gambia.

In reality, it wasn’t much of an “airline” at all, and never operated any flights with passengers. There’s very little information about the company online. In August 2024, the Gambian Civil Aviation Authority disclosed that the aircraft were sold to a buyer from the United Arab Emirates, and were taken off the Gambian register.

Despite the claim that the planes were being sold to a buyer from the UAE, in reality the planes were flown to Minsk, Belarus (MSQ), where they’ve been since that time, and have been prepared for entry into service. This wasn’t the guy’s first time assisting airlines with acquiring planes despite sanctions. The same person helped Syria’s Cham Wings acquire aircraft in the past.

Bottom line

Belavia is expanding its fleet with wide body aircraft, as the airline is expected to soon start flying three Airbus A330-200s. These planes were acquired from Gambia’s Magic Air, a suspicious airline based in Gambia, run by a Jordanian businessman. The world of smuggling aircraft to avoid sanctions is hardly new, though the process sure is fascinating.

What do you make of Belavia expanding with A330s?