With hundreds of Russian diplomats being asked to leave European nations, the task of carrying them back home has fallen mainly on one of Russia’s Rossiya Ilyushin Il-96 aircraft. However, what would have normally been short routine flights across the continent, have now had hours added to their flying time because of the current airspace restrictions.
Going back home
The political and diplomatic repercussions of Russia's war in Ukraine continue to affect Europe, with many nations asking Russian diplomats to go back home. While tensions had been mounting ever since Russia invaded Ukraine, things escalated even further last week when many countries in the continent took firm action by expelling Russian officials from their soil.
The biggest diplomatic breakdown in recent years means that hundreds of Russian nationals have to be transported back home all of a sudden. While usually, this would have meant a short flight to Moscow, the skies above Europe are not what they used to be even a few months ago.
Circuitous route
Data from flight-tracking apps reveal that the journey back home for the expelled Russian diplomats is not as simple as flying from point A to point B. Because of airspace restrictions put in place by EU nations for all Russian airplanes, the Il-96 carrying these officials has had to take longer-than-usual routes to reach Moscow.
Let’s examine some flights in the last few days taken by an Ilyushin Il-96-300 with the registration RA-96014.
On April 8th, the airplane flew from Berlin to Moscow. Instead of crossing Poland and beyond for a straight flight path to the Russian capital, it flew over the Baltic Sea, skirting the European mainland before entering the Russian airspace and eventually reaching Moscow.
The more recent flight on April 8th was between Brussels and Moscow. This time, because of having to avoid Germany and Denmark, the aircraft flew up north, circumventing Norway and Sweden before turning east and then south to enter Russia. What would normally have been a relatively short flight took almost seven hours because of the alternate route.
About the Ilyushin Il-96
The Ilyushin Il-96 is not an aircraft that is commonly visible these days. In fact, its commercial flying days seem to be numbered, with Cubana being the world’s last commercial user of the type. According to ch-aviation, the airline currently has one active Il-96 left in its fleet.
But in light of the present conflict, the Russian state Ilyushin Il-96 aircraft have been keeping quite busy carrying diplomats back home from around the world. Simple Flying previously reported how an Il-96 was seen approaching Washington DC last month. The aircraft was allowed to land at Dulles International Airport to remove diplomats from US territory.
Like the present European flights, the flight out of the US also had to take a longer path to reach its final destination – Moscow.