One of the two aircraft previously operated by Air Hamburg (Hamburg) that have been stranded in Krasnodar after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has recently been registered in Armenia, ch-aviation research reveals.
According to ADS-B data, the 5.9-year-old Legacy 650, formerly registered as D-AIRV (msn 14501236), was last active on February 20, 2022, flying between Dubai World Central and Krasnodar. On December 4, 2024, the Embraer Executive Jets aircraft was reregistered in Armenia as EK-SIM under Sim Avia, an Armenian company that does not hold an Air Operator's Certificate (AOC). It has yet to operate under the new Armenian registration.
The Legacy 650 is currently certified for private operations, with the registration valid until August 1, 2025. It joins two other general aviation aircraft operated by Sim Avia - a Piper PA-28 and a Piper PA-46 - both added in February 2024 and previously registered in Russia.
Sim Avia is owned and managed by one Simon Mnoyan. He is also the founder, and, until November 2023, was the director of a similarly named Russian company, Simavia, based in Krasnodar, which is now managed by Russian citizen Ivan Fateev. In 2011, the Russian-headquartered Simavia was named Piper Aircraft’s dealer for Russia.
Sim Avia and Mnoyan did not respond to ch-aviation's request for comment.
Alongside the Legacy 650, Air Hamburg also had a second aircraft stranded in Krasnodar - Citation XLS+ D-CKJM (msn 560-6277). ADS-B data indicates that the 5.3-year-old jet's last flight was on February 23, 2022, from Nuremberg to Krasnodar.
