In a tale of two very troubled countries, this last week has witnessed the unfolding of the seizure of an Airbus A330 operated by Russian flag carrier Aeroflot in Sri Lanka. Last Thursday, the plane was about to leave Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) when air traffic control reportedly received orders to stop it from taking off. On Monday, a Sri Lankan court suspended the order, and the aircraft is once more free to leave the airport.
According to a report by the New Indian Express, the Colombo Commercial High Court considered a motion filed by the Sri Lankan Attorney General, asking that the request resulting in the take-off ban of the aircraft be made void. This is much sooner than the original hearing date of June 8. As such, the owner of the ten-year-old jet, Irish lessor Celestial Aviation Trading Limited, is again left one aircraft short.
The release of the Aeroflot aircraft follows an intense diplomatic exchange, with none too happy Russians on one end. The Sri Lankan government has continuously stated that the dispute between the airlines and Celestial Aviation was of a commercial nature which should be dealt with between the two parties.
However, the country is in complete financial and political disarray and cannot afford to lose precious Russian tourism. Following Thursday's seizure, Aeroflot quickly suspended all commercial flights to Colombo, deploying only repatriation flights to bring back passengers who were stranded after the plane was detained.
Aircraft re-registered with Russian authorities
The Airbus A330 aircraft was scheduled to depart CMB on June 2 with 191 passengers and 13 crew members. According to flight radar tracking services, it is still on the ground in Colombo, but this article may be updated when we know it has made its way back towards Moscow.
It was previously registered as VQ-BMY, but as Russia decided to allow foreign aircraft to be re-registered in Russia so that they could keep flying, the jet now goes by RA-73702, effective early April. Aeroflot has kept flying the specific aircraft domestically between Moscow and Vladivostok and Sochi, but also on several round trips to Colombo.
Some seized, some abandoned
Since the sanctions against leasing aircraft to Russian airlines were imposed due to the country's invasion of Ukraine, lessors have managed to seize close to 80 planes. Meanwhile, five Russian airlines have also returned more than two dozen planes to lessors, Reuters reported last week.
Azur Air, iFly, Nordwind, Pegas Fly and Royal Flight, all carriers specializing in charter traffic, have left many of their leased aircraft outside of Russia, parked in airports in Turkey, the Middle East, Europe, and the US. While most airlines declined to comment on the information, Norwind responded to the new agency, saying that,
"The fate of the planes seized abroad is unknown to us."
Do you think the Sri Lankan court did the right thing in releasing the Aeroflot A330 to be on its way back to Moscow? Leave a comment below and join the conversation surrounding the controversial seizure.
Source: Reuters, The New Indian Express