Belarus intends to upgrade its fleet by supplying Russian SSJ NEW and MC-21 aircraft, said the Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic Alexey Avramenko. This is reported by Interfax.

"We are actively engaged in Superjet NEW and MC-21 aircraft. But we will come to a more concrete result when the MC-21 aircraft actually appears. There are preliminary agreements, we are working on this issue," he said

In mid-2021, due to the forced landing of a Ryanair transit flight in Minsk, the European Union banned Belarusian airlines from landing at European airports and flying over EU territory. European carriers have stopped using the airspace of Belarus. Due to the sanctions, Belavia Airline was forced to return part of the aircraft to leasing companies and halve its fleet to 15 aircraft.

In early April 2022, the US Department of Commerce for the first time included seven Boeing 737 aircraft belonging to Belavia in the list of air vessels whose maintenance violates US export controls. To provide any form of maintenance for these aircraft, a BIS permit is required. In mid-June, the Ministry of Trade tightened sanctions - and Belavia was deprived of the right to export from the United States, re-export or transfer goods and services subject to export control. Companies around the world are now prohibited from servicing, repairing and otherwise using spare parts manufactured in the USA for servicing the Belavia fleet.