Canada to transfer seized Russian An-124 aircraft to Ukraine

[W5]

https://skiesmag.com/news/canada-transfer-seized-russian-an-124-aircraft-ukraine/

After being stuck at Toronto Pearson Airport for over a year, an Antonov An-124 aircraft — owned by Russian cargo firm Volga-Dnepr — is to be confiscated and transferred to Ukraine as part of a new package of sanctions against Russia from Canada, which target Volga-Dnepr in particular.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal shared the news in a Facebook update on April 16, following meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.

The An-124 has been parked at Pearson airport and unable to leave since it arrived in Canada on Feb. 27, 2022, from Khabarovsk, Russia, via Anchorage, Alaska, to deliver a shipment of Covid-19 rapid tests. The same day the plane arrived, Canada’s Transport Minister, Omar Alghabra, closed Canadian airspace to Russian-owned, chartered, or operated aircraft. This was in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The war is ongoing.

Several countries have since imposed sanctions against Russia, with many targeting the country’s aviation sector. In addition to Russian-registered aircraft being unable to use Canadian, U.S., and European airspace, the sanctions have resulted in lease cancelations and major airframe OEMs halting the supply of parts and support for Russian airlines.

Currently, four An-124s belonging to Volga-Dnepr — which owns Volga-Dnepr Airlines — are stuck in other countries, including the aircraft grounded in Canada. The four-engine Antonov plane at Pearson is one of several seized Russian assets that is to be transferred to Ukraine to bolster the country’s defense.

That aircraft in particular has accrued a hefty parking bill since last February. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) said the aeronautical fees for the parked An-124 are $1,065.60 for each 24-hour period — which includes general terminal charges, apron fees, etc. While the plane has been parked at Pearson for over 400 days, that translates to roughly $442,000, excluding HST.

This is a developing story.

[Kip Powick]

That amount of time on the ground is going to require the aircraft to have a lot of maintenance checks and probably a test flight........could be a while before it is "wheels-up".

[Guest1]

1 hour ago, Kip Powick said:

That amount of time on the ground is going to require the aircraft to have a lot of maintenance checks and probably a test flight........could be a while before it is "wheels-up".

I wonder who they will get to crew the aircraft.  Type endorsement or ?

[conehead]

2 hours ago, Kip Powick said:

That amount of time on the ground is going to require the aircraft to have a lot of maintenance checks and probably a test flight........could be a while before it is "wheels-up".

And I don't believe there was any sort of preservation work done on it during this time... could be nasty.

[Seeker]

I'm positive that aircraft has been on the ground for more than a year as stated in the article.  I think it's been there since Feb 2020, not Feb 2022.  Lots of pilots, myself included, have made the statement back in 2020 that it should be confiscated and given to Ukranine - it only took the government 3 years to come to the same conclusion.

[Kip Powick]

6 hours ago, Seeker said:

I'm positive that aircraft has been on the ground for more than a year as stated in the article.  I think it's been there since Feb 2020, not Feb 2022.  Lots of pilots, myself included, have made the statement back in 2020 that it should be confiscated and given to Ukranine - it only took the government 3 years to come to the same conclusion.

Apparently one of the first signs that one should ease out of their profession is to understand and accept that their ability to fully understand the flow of time, in this universe, is becoming impaired.

                                                                                     

 

[Specs]

9 hours ago, Seeker said:

I'm positive that aircraft has been on the ground for more than a year as stated in the article.  I think it's been there since Feb 2020, not Feb 2022.  Lots of pilots, myself included, have made the statement back in 2020 that it should be confiscated and given to Ukranine - it only took the government 3 years to come to the same conclusion.

The aircraft was flying into YYZ routinely before the 'Special Military Action" started but the airspace ban on Russian aircraft imposed soon after the war started in Feb 2022 is what caught them up.   They couldn't fly out.

[Airband]

'The Volga-Dnepr Antonov that landed in Toronto on Saturday 27 February at 07:00 was carrying rapid antigen tests ordered from China by the Canadian government. The aircraft, registered RA-82078, departed from an undisclosed airport in China on flight VI5854, stopping at Khabarovsk in Russia’s far east and in Anchorage before arriving in Toronto.'

[Seeker]

Well, next thing you guys are going to tell me is that the Covid situation didn't happen 10 years ago!

OK, ok, I was wrong.  Felt like it's been more than a year, feels like the whole Ukraine thing has been going on for years too.

[Specs]

5 minutes ago, Seeker said:

feels like the whole Ukraine thing has been going on for years too.

It probably will.