Grounded Russian-owned plane still in limbo at Toronto Pearson Airport

By Lynne Levy | July 12, 2022

When Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, no one could have foreseen that one of the ramifications of the war would have literal on-the-ground implications for a Canadian airport more than 7,000 kilometers away.

Toronto Pearson Airport has been the unfortunate parking lot for a Russian-owned Antonov An-124 aircraft since Feb. 27, 2022. The plane arrived in Canada from Khabarovsk, Russia, via Anchorage, Alaska, to deliver a shipment of Covid-19 rapid tests. The day it touched ground, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra closed Canadian airspace to Russian aircraft.

The An-124 currently parked at Pearson has amassed a quickly mounting bill. For this particular aircraft, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority’s (GTAA’s) aeronautical fees amount to a parking cost of $1,065.60 for each 24-hour period. This includes multiple items such as general terminal charges and apron fees. While the plane has been grounded since late February, the parking costs to date are nearing $150,000, excluding HST.

The An-124 is operated by cargo carrier Volga-Dnepr, and is one of the largest aircraft in existence. In fact, it ranks as the world’s second heaviest gross weight production cargo airplane and heaviest operating cargo aircraft. The four-engine aircraft was designed in the 1980s by the Antonov design bureau in the Ukrainian SSR, then part of the Soviet Union (USSR), and was manufactured between 1982 and 2014.

Prior to the Russia-Ukraine conflict that began in 2014, the two countries were considering developing their own joint aircraft, but those plans were soon ditched. Recently, in early July 2022, a Russian firm, the Central AeroHydrodynamic Institute, announced it is working on an An-124 successor — a new heavy transport aircraft to be called the Elephant.

Regarding the current war in Ukraine, Transport Canada spokesperson Sau Sau Liu commented in an email, “The Government of Canada continues to take strong and decisive action in response to Russian military action targeting Ukraine. As part of a suite of economic countermeasures against the Russian Federation following its invasion of Ukraine, the Government of Canada closed Canada’s airspace on February 27, 2022, to Russian-owned, chartered or operated aircraft, including in the airspace above Canada’s territorial waters.”

The Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) prohibits the entry, overflight, or exit from Canadian territorial airspace by Russian aircraft. It bans all aircraft, regardless of the country of registration, directly or indirectly owned, chartered, leased, operated or otherwise controlled by a person connected with the Russian Federation or by a corporation or entity that is incorporated or formed under the laws of the Russian Federation. This also includes all operators holding an Air Operator Certificate issued by Russian Federation authorities. Transport Canada has informed Russian authorities about the NOTAM currently in place. An exemption would have to be requested in order to reverse the ban. However, the statement notes that “there are no plans to make revisions or change it at this time.”

While the An-124 isn’t the only aircraft that finds itself in this situation, it has received national and international press coverage.

On March 17, Euromaidan Press tweeted that the Antonov was going to be transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine “to deliver military aid from the U.S. and Canada.” But after nearly five months, the behemoth remains in long-term storage at Pearson.

When a tarmac becomes the home to an enormous cargo plane for a protracted period of time, incurring equally enormous fees, the question arises as to how long this situation will last. As the war in Ukraine ravages on, the effects felt beyond that country’s borders continue to multiply. As much as there is no predictable end to the conflict in sight, the Antonov An-124 remains grounded at Pearson airport for an indefinite period of time.