No restrictions on Russian arrivals

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Tourism Development Authority said that the Russian Embassy in Sri Lanka has informed that Russian tourists are NOT restricted from visiting Sri Lanka.

Director-General Dhammika Wijesinghe said the suspension of direct flights between Russia and Sri Lanka could affect Russian tourist arrivals.

Concerns have been mounting over flights between Sri Lanka and Russia after Aeroflot suspended all flights to Sri Lanka when a court ordered the seizure of one of its Airbus A330s on Thursday, June 2nd.

The seizure came after the plane's Irish owner requested an injunction since the A330's lease had been terminated following sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

However, the airline operated two repatriation flights on June 4th and 5th to bring home citizens who are asked to deplane on June 2nd due to the seizure and those scheduled to fly on the 4th and 5th.

The Colombo Commercial Court has banned the seized A330, RA-73702 (previously VQ-BMY), from leaving the country until June 16th under the original order. However, there is a hearing scheduled for June 8th to potentially lift the order and allow Aeroflot to fly its jets home.

However, lessor Celestial Aviation Ireland is unlikely to let this happen without a fight. The A330 was previously leased to Aeroflot by GECAS and AerCap and was reregistered in April after the EU ordered that all leases to Russian carriers be canceled and aircraft seized. While the former went into effect, getting the planes back has been difficult due to the reregistration.