Since early 2022, an Aeroflot Airbus A321 has been parked at a Swiss airport. The plane is apparently in horrible condition, as it hasn’t received any sort of maintenance over that time, and it’s doubtful whether the plane will ever be able to fly again. That says nothing of the fact that the plane is believed to have a rat infestation, as rotting food has been sitting in the galley for years. The wildest part? Despite the plane being “abandoned,” parking fees reportedly continue to be paid for the plane…
Geneva Airport’s mysterious, abandoned Airbus A321
In early 2022, we saw Russia attack Ukraine, a war that has now been going on for well over four years. When it comes to global aviation, this has also had major implications. We’ve seen Russian airlines sanctioned, and we’ve also seen Russia respond by closing much of its airspace to foreign airlines.
Immediately after the start of the war, we saw a lot of Russian planes stuck in countries they could no longer fly out of, though over time, most of those issues have been resolved. However, there’s perhaps one most notable exception, as flagged by aeroTELEGRAPH.
An Aeroflot Airbus A321 with the registration code VP-BOE has been parked at Geneva Airport (GVA) since early 2022. It arrived in Geneva from Moscow (SVO) on the afternoon of February 27, 2022, and it was supposed to turn right around and operate the return flight to Russia.
However, as the plane taxied out to the runway, it became clear that all airspace would be closed to the plane, so the aircraft had to return to the gate, and the flight was canceled.
Since then, almost nothing has happened with the plane. Reports suggest that the A321 has full fuel tanks, and there are even meals in the galley, with the belief being that the plane is rat infested. It’s much worse than that, though. The Airbus jet is reportedly starting to have cracks form, engines haven’t been covered, and there are problems with the electronics, so it’s highly questionable whether the plane will ever fly again, unless it undergoes a prohibitively expensive amount of work.
In the over four years that the plane has been at the airport, it has only been moved once. That was in June 2022, when it had to be towed away from its parking position so that the Swiss Air Force could use the parking spot for a United Nations conference.
What’s also noteworthy is that the parking fees for the plane reportedly continue to be paid. The cost is 30,000 CHF (36,540 USD) per month. So if that payment has actually been made for the entire time the plane has been parked, we’re talking about two million USD in parking fees.
Why this one Aeroflot A321, specifically, is “stuck”
At the start of the war, lots of planes flying on behalf of Russian airlines were stranded, but over time, most of these situations were resolved. For example, many planes were actually owned by Western leasing companies, so the planes were seized, with many now flying for other airlines.
This particular Aeroflot Airbus A321 was owned by Russian leasing company GTLK, and more specifically, by an Irish subsidiary that it had. However, due to sanctions against Russia, that Irish subsidiary had to be liquidated, given that it was financially benefiting Russia.
The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) explains the issue here. Sanctions prohibit the sale or export of aircraft to Russia, as well as the overhaul or maintenance of aircraft, for the benefits of companies in Russia. Furthermore, Russian aircraft are prohibited from taking off from Swiss territory.
The only factor that would allow the plane to be moved is if it poses a safety or environmental risk. Of course the irony is that with the plane having been abandoned for years, it has gotten to the point where it almost certainly can’t fly anymore, so at some point, just parting out the aircraft might be the only option.
So yeah, basically this Aeroflot A321 is unique for the fact that it was owned by a leasing company with Russian interests (unlike most Aeroflot planes), it was on the ground when sanctions were imposed, and it missed its ability to take off by just minutes, as European countries closed their airspace to Russian airlines, one by one.
This plane clearly won’t fly again anytime soon, so I’m curious what ends up happening here. I understand the need for sanctions, but this situation seems to benefit no one. But what are you gonna do, I guess?
Bottom line
An Aeroflot Airbus A321 has now been parked at Geneva Airport since February 2022, when sanctions against Russia were imposed. While many planes were temporarily grounded at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, most planes eventually “moved,” particularly as foreign leasing companies repossessed the planes.
One exception has been the Aeroflot Airbus A321 at Geneva Airport. The plane missed its ability to leave Switzerland by a matter of minutes, and Swiss sanctions prevent companies with Russian interests from doing business in Russia, or of Russian planes leaving the country.
So that’s why an Aeroflot A321 is still parked at the airport. At this point the plane reportedly has cracks, and can’t even fly anymore, so it’s anyone’s guess how this all plays out. Presumably at some point the plane will just be parted out, though will that happen in a matter of months, a matter of years, or what?
What do you make of this Aeroflot A321 at Geneva Airport?
Still better than AA. Haha
Ben, what is your source that Aeroflot is actually paying for the parking fee? In the article you linked it said:
"Im Monat werden Standgebühren von 30'000 Franken fällig, [...] hochgerechnet wären seit Februar 2022 über 1,6 Millionen Franken zusammengekommen. Ob die bezahlt wurden, ist unklar."
(relevant part: "... totaled to 1.6M, If this was payed is unknown.")
Ireland doesn't have any problem with a Russian company using an Irish subsidiary to mine Irish aluminum -- some of which is no doubt used for weapons used against Ukraine. So this doesn't seem to be a problem with Irish ownership, but with Swiss intelligence.
Aeroflot probably decided that service to Switzerland will be restored some day, and it's worth a few million to stay on good terms with its airports. Might even be...
Ireland doesn't have any problem with a Russian company using an Irish subsidiary to mine Irish aluminum -- some of which is no doubt used for weapons used against Ukraine. So this doesn't seem to be a problem with Irish ownership, but with Swiss intelligence.
Aeroflot probably decided that service to Switzerland will be restored some day, and it's worth a few million to stay on good terms with its airports. Might even be where Putin and Zelensky finally meet with President Newsom.
MIA used to have an area over by NW 36th St referred to as "corrosion corner". There were quite a few old cargo aircraft there just rusting away.
Not sure if it's still there or has been cleared out.
How to set examples for kids.
Bully is not good.
Except when it's your propaganda.
Sanction all we what. But it doesn't work both ways. We still accept money from sanctioned entities but they can't have anything. We also seized everything we can.
Sounds just like communists.
In your introduction (Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022), you forgot to mention that USA organized a coup there in 2014 following which the new government started shelling the ethnic Russian regions of Ukraine (Donbas etc) killing over 8,000 civilians between 2014-2022, and also banned those people's native language and religion. So your "framing" is incomplete and perhaps Anglo-US establishment biassed.
And before anyone blames Biden.
It happened under Obama.
No, Henry, you are the one misrepresenting on here. (And Eskimo, you’re not helping much either.) Ben was both accurate and fair for the purposes of his introduction.
Let’s be abundantly clear: The 2014 Euromaidan events were domestic protests after Ukraine's president fled; whereas, the fighting in Donbas (little green men) was a Putin/Russian-backed proxy war with about 3,400 to 4,000 total civilian deaths on both sides (not 8,000 targeted killings), and the Russian...
No, Henry, you are the one misrepresenting on here. (And Eskimo, you’re not helping much either.) Ben was both accurate and fair for the purposes of his introduction.
Let’s be abundantly clear: The 2014 Euromaidan events were domestic protests after Ukraine's president fled; whereas, the fighting in Donbas (little green men) was a Putin/Russian-backed proxy war with about 3,400 to 4,000 total civilian deaths on both sides (not 8,000 targeted killings), and the Russian language was never banned.
Additionally, by annexing Crimea, also in 2014, Russia broke its promise under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum to respect Ukraine's borders in exchange for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons.
Internal politics or regional fights never justify launching a full-scale, unprovoked invasion of an independent country.
The US and other countries have done their fair share of violations as well, elsewhere, currently, and historically, too. We, as Americans, many of us, want accountability for that as well. But, to go down those rabbit holes, to draw false equivalencies, to engage in endless whataboutisms, would only be a distraction from the specific aviation fascination with this aircraft in Geneva. Try to stay focused, if you can.
Fair point - America - a country founded on genocide and built on slavery. The British empire was worse of course ... and as for the Belgians in the Congo - horrific !
Can't blame what didn't happen.
There was no "coup". There were protests against the government, which is what happens in democratic countries when governments significantly break promises. The pro-Russian President then escalated things by having his security forces kill over 100 of his own citizens. He was turfed out for that - again, no surprise in any democratic country. But before he could be charged, he ran away to... guess where? His Russian sponsor, where...
Can't blame what didn't happen.
There was no "coup". There were protests against the government, which is what happens in democratic countries when governments significantly break promises. The pro-Russian President then escalated things by having his security forces kill over 100 of his own citizens. He was turfed out for that - again, no surprise in any democratic country. But before he could be charged, he ran away to... guess where? His Russian sponsor, where he continues to hide to this day! Though Putin reportedly planned to put him back in power if he succeeded in his Russian takeover of Ukraine.
As for the shelling in 2014, that was also because Russia invaded. Ukraine obviously defended itself. The rest of your own "framing" is equally inaccurate just serving to support the invader's claims, since Russia continually tries to cover up everything it does and not take responsibility.
Exactly the point - there are a range of framings from differing perspectives (who do you think funded the protests - why was Vikky Nuland handing out cookies). The first rule of successful diplomacy is to understand the broader range of perspectives and historical contexts, rather than remaining entrenched in one-sided "group think". And that's before we even get to the now admitted duplicity regarding the Minsk accords, which the Anglo-US establishment by their own...
Exactly the point - there are a range of framings from differing perspectives (who do you think funded the protests - why was Vikky Nuland handing out cookies). The first rule of successful diplomacy is to understand the broader range of perspectives and historical contexts, rather than remaining entrenched in one-sided "group think". And that's before we even get to the now admitted duplicity regarding the Minsk accords, which the Anglo-US establishment by their own admission used as a hiatus for rearming rather than having any intention to comply with the supposedly agreed terms. That amongst other factors result in the conclusion that the West cannot be trusted to honor agreements, with the sad conclusion that the only possible solution now will be a military one.
@henry young the invasion in 2022 was the proximate cause. If you expect @Ben to deliver the history of the current Russian aggression, where should he stop? The fall of the USSR, WWII, the Russian Revolution or maybe Napoleon's invasion of Russia and defeat, not by the Russian army, but by the Russian winter? In other words, you're being ridiculous.
I guess I'm surprised that Aeroflot has kept paying the fees. At some point, a private call to the effect of "We're not paying anymore" would seem to be in order, no?
I suspect that if the plane were elsewhere it might have been seized and sold off earlier, but Switzerland is a bit weird in that respect.
So we’re expected to believe the rats scaled the tyres, infiltrated the landing-gear bay, breached the cargo hold, entered the cabin, and opened the service trolleys? At that point, they’re not rats. They’re tiny aviation engineers with security clearance and a very specific catering assignment. Meanwhile, I’m still taking my belt off at security
@CJ, LOL, rats can definitely do all that...except open the service trolleys. Speaking of belts, why do people, mostly men, keep wearing belts when heading to airport security? Buy better fitted pants. Or put the belt in the carry-on bag, ideally at home, before reaching security.
The EU is run by a bunch of complete morons. UK also. There are Russian billionaires yachts seized just rotting away in London. Why not maintain and use or resell ? But not to worry daddy is about to make a speech in the UN and cut off aid to the rest of the world. America first !
The problem is that Russia hasn't lost the war yet, and hasn't suffered the strategic defeat. Europe is much closer to that in fact. Hence when the time comes to rebuild the relations (and it will come - the EU can't survive when all energy and resources it needs cost them 2x - 4x what their major competitors pay), that will be on Russia's term and Europe will need to return all that fun stuff or compensate for it.
Anrec80, holy Russian propaganda, Batman! You just tried to suggest that all of Europe is closer to 'strategic defeat' than Russia? Please tell us that was sarcasm. Sure, energy costs are higher, everywhere (in-part due to Russia's war with Ukraine; also in-part due to America's war with Iran). But, my goodness, the rest of Europe hasn't lost the 1.4 million causalities (including 450K+ deaths) that Russia has since its illegal invasion and escalation in 2022....
Anrec80, holy Russian propaganda, Batman! You just tried to suggest that all of Europe is closer to 'strategic defeat' than Russia? Please tell us that was sarcasm. Sure, energy costs are higher, everywhere (in-part due to Russia's war with Ukraine; also in-part due to America's war with Iran). But, my goodness, the rest of Europe hasn't lost the 1.4 million causalities (including 450K+ deaths) that Russia has since its illegal invasion and escalation in 2022. No one cares about this Airbus or oligarch yachts compared to the bigger things.
Switzerland isn’t in the EU nor in the UK though…
In a related story, there’s that massive Antonov An-124 still parked prominently at Pearson (YYZ)… Canada officially seized the plane in June 2023, over the owners’ “complicity in President Putin’s war of choice.” Ottawa has previously said it plans to redistribute the aircraft to Ukraine. Nice.
I was hoping that someone would mention that. It's very prominent, and easy to see even from outside the airport. Not a small plane at all.
An allegory for Russia. Also rotting to the core, drowning in military incompetence, cultural hubris, corruption, and an inability to find its place in the world.
May that wretched country collapse one day and soon and cease to be a menace to the rest of the world.
For a moment there I thought you were talking about current day United States. God let us a long time ago. I hope someone blesses us cause it looks like we’re just the opposite side of the same coin.
"Also rotting to the core, drowning in military incompetence, cultural hubris, corruption, and an inability to find its place in the world."
One could say the exact same thing about Canada. Except Canada is far more likely to collapse than Russia.
And before you jump to conclusions, no, I'm not Russian, I have never even been to Russia.
Russia is an abomination.
VladG... bahaha, I needed a good laugh.
(No place is perfect, but Canada's doing just fine, these days, even with our president giving them a hard time for no real reason.)
Winning what? Controlling the minds of its people? Hated the world over. No one is beating a path to live in Russia, live like Russians, and think like Russians.
Culturally, Russia is rich. But it is poor in just about everything else.
I agree and unfortunately the current US administration views Putin’s stronghold on Russia aspirationally.
At Brussels airport there were two (I think 737) from Equatorial Congo stuck for 5 or more years which had a rat infection as well. They were scrapped eventually. Crazy
It was a single 757-200 but remained at BRU for nearly 8 years. I remember that you could easily see it from the road in Steenokkerzeel. A bit surreal!
https://www.luchtvaartnieuws.nl/nieuws/categorie/3/airports/na-acht-jaar-stilstand-laat-brussels-airport-boeing-757-ontmantelen
The article you are citing doesn’t say that the parking fees have been paid. It says that those fees are mounting up an that it is unclear, if they are being paid.
I very much doubt that they’re being paid.
@ CapitalMike -- The previous story states that they have been paid as of recently, though it's not clear if they've been paid consistently, or what:
https://www.aerotelegraph.com/flugzeuge/aeroflot-airbus-vergammelt-seit-45-jahren-in-genf-essen-noch-an-bord/66zk1gh
I wonder why they bother to pay the parking fees. What would they do if they stopped? Seize the unusable plane?
Sooo simple, Nikojas... Seize the secret Swiss assets in Swiss banks of Russian account holders who cannot protest, fight or sue, since they are not supposed to have that money which, by all accounting principles, "does not exist". The Swiss banks have a long not so secret tradition of making as much or more money for themselves than for the owners of undeclared Swiss accounts. It starts with the very simple rule that many operations...
Sooo simple, Nikojas... Seize the secret Swiss assets in Swiss banks of Russian account holders who cannot protest, fight or sue, since they are not supposed to have that money which, by all accounting principles, "does not exist". The Swiss banks have a long not so secret tradition of making as much or more money for themselves than for the owners of undeclared Swiss accounts. It starts with the very simple rule that many operations end up for the bank's account if they are profitable and for the client's account if they are not.