The US Department of Commerce has issued Boeing a license to work with Belavia, said the Belarusian carrier’s CEO, Igor Cherginets. According to him, this will make it possible to receive spare parts, components, and software directly for the aircraft the company already has and to discuss purchasing Boeing jets.
On Saturday, the US Department of Commerce issued Boeing permission to work with Belavia, The Moscow Times reported. Belarus’s permanent representative to the UN, Valentin Rybakov, said the same thing on the First Information TV channel, clarifying that Boeing received a license to interact with the national carrier.
Cherginets said that Belavia will now be able to receive spare parts, components, and software directly for the aircraft it already has. He also said the decision opens the way for talks about buying Boeing jets.
According to public data, Belavia’s fleet consists of 18 Boeing, Embraer, and Airbus aircraft, and the company itself remains the country’s largest airline. After US and EU sanctions were imposed, foreign lessors repossessed some of the carrier’s Embraer and Boeing aircraft, and to keep the remaining fleet airworthy the company had to bring in components through third countries and dismantle old planes for parts.
The US first imposed restrictions on Belavia back in April 2022: the Commerce Department then banned the use of American aircraft for flights to Belarus and Russia. The company ignored the ban, and in June the department prohibited companies worldwide from repairing or otherwise using American parts or equipment to service Belavia’s fleet; in August 2023, the sanctions became total.
In 2023, Belavia was added to the US sanctions list for violating export control measures introduced over Minsk’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In September 2025, Washington lifted the restrictions after Belarusian authorities released 52 political prisoners, while the carrier remains on the EU sanctions list after the forced landing of a Ryanair plane in 2021 and the detention of Roman Protasevich, editor of the opposition Telegram channel Nexta.
Sources
