3 Jun 2022 22:02

Aeroflot suspends flights to Sri Lanka over aircraft's arrest

MOSCOW. June 3 (Interfax) - Aeroflot has suspended commercial flights to Colombo (Sri Lanka).

The decision was prompted by "the unfavorable situation as regards guarantees of unobstructed flights of the airline's aircraft to Sri Lanka," Aeroflot said in a statement.

The airline suspended the sale of tickets to Colombo as well.

As reported earlier, an Aeroflot Airbus A330 arrived in Colombo on Thursday morning and was supposed to return to Moscow the same day. However, the departure was postponed until Friday morning.

On Friday, the aircraft again was unable to fly out to Russia. Local media reported that a commercial court in Colombo had banned the Russian aircraft from leaving the country until at least June 16. The complaint had been filed by Ireland's Celestial Aviation Trading Limited, which is affiliated with the lessor GECAS.