Sri Lanka Detains Russian Aeroflot Plane

Aeroflot informed that the passengers of the cancelled flight are being accommodated in a hotel and will be informed by the airline’s contact centre about the time of departure for Moscow.

The departure of the Colombo-Moscow flight, scheduled for 2 June, was cancelled due to the lack of permission from the Sri Lankan aviation authorities, Russia’s largest airline, Aeroflot said on Friday.

"The departure of Aeroflot Flight SU289 from Colombo to Moscow on 02.06.2022 was delayed and further cancelled due to the lack of permission from the Sri Lankan aviation authorities. The court hearing on lifting the arrest of the aircraft is scheduled for 8 June 2022", Aeroflot’s press service said.

According to the carrier's website, the flight was operated by an Airbus A330-300 aircraft.

Earlier, a Colombo court issued a verdict on the detention of the Aeroflot plane, which did not receive a flight permit on Thursday, until 16 June.

The decision was made in connection with a complaint filed by the leasing company Celestial Aviation Trading Limited from Ireland. Aeroflot has 12 Airbus A330 aircraft in its fleet. In May, the company bought eight aircraft from foreign owners.

The wave of EU sanctions against Russia over its military operation in Ukraine banned sales of aircraft and their parts to Russian carriers and obligated European leasing companies to retrieve all leased planes from Russia. Some countries have closed their airspace to Russian flights and threatened to detain the planes registered and leased abroad.