Syria’s Cham Wings recently chartered an Airbus A320 from the United Arab Emirates through a shell airline to circumvent Western sanctions.
Cham Wings breached European and U.S. sanctions by utilizing Queens Air, a shell airline that registered the aircraft under its name in Kyrgyzstan with the designation Ex-32012 before its transfer to the UAE and subsequent lease to Cham Wings.
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Cham Wings manipulated the original aircraft codes and data, changing them from Ex-32012 to YK-BAA, an outdated code associated with a Cham Wings-owned aircraft that had been decommissioned due to maintenance issues.
Aircraft and airline ownership tracking databases have documented the ownership history of the aircraft since its initial release in 2005, tracing back to its first ownership by Taca Airlines in the Republic of El Salvador until 2013.
Ownership of the aircraft then transferred to Ftai in the United States until 2019, followed by Sky One in the UAE until January 2023, before ultimately being acquired by the unidentified Queens Air.
The aircraft conducted its inaugural flight from the UAE to Minsk, Belarus in January, subsequently arriving in Damascus on February 13 and commencing operations under the Cham Wings banner, serving routes between Damascus, Baghdad, Erbil, Kuwait, and Muscat.
On January 22, the European Union imposed sanctions on Syrian individuals and entities suspected of aiding the Syrian regime, which included Cham Wings Company, owned by the Shammout Trading Group, for its alleged involvement in the transportation of Syrian mercenaries, arms trafficking, drug smuggling, and money laundering.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
