In early June, an Aeroflot Airbus A330-300 was stuck in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, for several days. A judge had fixed the leased plane at the request of the Irish Celestial Aviation Trading, subsidiary of the leasing giant Aercap and owner of the jet.
But the long-haul airliner, once registered VQ-BMY and then illegally registered as RA-73702 in Russia in response to Western sanctions, was eventually able to return to Moscow. The reason was a new court ruling that referred to a formal error in the determination of the aircraft.
There was also political pressure when Aeroflot responded by suspending its flights to Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Ministry of Tourism said the decision had “serious implications for the overall economy and the tourism industry.” The ministry asked the Attorney General to intervene. All of this was known.
But now the Washington Post newspaper is reporting more details on how the A330 was detained and recovered by Russia. According to Sri Lankan court documents, the lessor first asked Aeroflot to return the jet just two days after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Five more letters followed by mid-April with requests for their return. Without success.
When the plane was finally arrested in Sri Lanka, the almost 200 passengers on flight SU289 from Colombo to Moscow were already on the plane when the court prevented the departure. They had to leave the A330 and were accommodated in hotels.
After that, Aeroflot suspended flights important to Sri Lanka’s tourism industry. She also claimed, according to the newspaper, that the island state had given Russia a state guarantee that Russian planes could fly in and out unmolested.
Russia also threatened to cut off oil and other energy supplies to Sri Lanka, which was sliding into its worst economic crisis in decades, according to the Washington Post. She cites information from a European official who is familiar with the matter. In late May, a Russian oil shipment enabled Sri Lanka’s only refinery to resume operations for the first time in more than two months, Bloomberg reported.
According to the newspaper, the Sri Lankan government’s lawyers, who represented the state airport, together with Aeroflot, finally asked the court to release the plane. The court complied with the request and found that the detention order had not been properly served.
Shortly thereafter, the A330 was free again. He now flies mainly between Moscow and Yakutsk as well as Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan. The economic and political situation in Sri Lanka has continued to deteriorate. Last weekend, demonstrators stormed the presidential palace and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives. The week before, Rajapaksa had contacted Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request for support with fuel supplies.
This article was written by Timo Nowack
Again and again, civilians die as a result of Russian attacks in Ukraine. Its president has therefore reiterated his call for those responsible to be brought before a war crimes tribunal. The OSCE meanwhile sees indications of Russian war crimes. That happened in the night.
For the past few days, Ukraine has been celebrating increasing successes against the Russian army with US weapons. On the one hand, this is due to the weapons themselves – but it is also related to an empty promise. A former prime minister of Russia is now facing consequences.
According to the think tank Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air, the EU is still the main recipient of Russian oil exports. Accordingly, the EU receives 51 percent, China 25 percent and India four percent of Russian oil. Still, since the war of aggression in Ukraine began, Russia would export fewer fossil fuels than before.
The original of this article “How Russia freed a seized Airbus A330 from Sri Lanka” comes from aeroTelegraph.
