A flight of Russian airline Aeroflot arrived on the morning of October 10 at Bandaranaike International Airport, resuming flights between Moscow and Colombo after 4 months.
The Russian flag carrier had announced the suspension of commercial flights to Sri Lanka after the island nation’s authorities seized the company’s Airbus A330 aircraft on June 2. On June 3, Aeroflot reported that the departure of its flight SU-289 from Colombo to Moscow, scheduled for June 2, was first delayed and then canceled due to lack of permission from Sri Lankan aviation authorities.
At that time, the Colombo Commercial High Court upheld a lawsuit filed by Irish lessor Celestial Aviation Trading Limited against Aeroflot and banned its Airbus A330 aircraft from leaving the country until June 16.
However, on July 15, the Colombo Commercial High Court dismissed the case filed by the Irish company. This court victory prompted Aeroflot, significantly reduced in its network of international destinations, to decide to resume flights from Moscow to Sri Lanka as of October 9, 2022.
The airline resumed operations to Colombo with this first flight, which will have an initial frequency of twice a week. Starting October 30, Aeroflot will relaunch seven weekly flights to Bangkok, and from November 2, the airline will operate up to three weekly services to Goa.
