Russian jet owner sues Ottawa for $100M; plane still sits at Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Ontario

Attempts by the Canadian government since summer 2023 to deliver a huge Russian-owned cargo plane from Pearson Airport in Mississauga into the hands of Ukraine continue to be held up in court.

The Antonov An-124 aircraft, the world’s largest production cargo plane, remains stranded on the tarmac at Pearson, where it has been parked since Feb. 27, 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent closing of Canadian airspace to Russian-owned planes.

More than two-and-a-half years later, it remains a curious sight to numerous daily motorists who speed by on the highway next to Canada’s biggest and busiest airport.

After Ottawa seized the aircraft in June 2023, it revealed its intention to deliver it to Ukraine as part of an aid package.

During an unannounced visit to Kyiv at that time to show Canada’s support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the seized Russian-registered plane would soon be given to his nation so it could never be used by Russia again.

But not so fast. Russia’s Volga-Dnepr Airlines, the registered owner of the aircraft, took issue with the attempted seizure and reportedly approached Ottawa later last year to begin discussions about having the cargo plane returned.

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Subsequently, the international tug-of-war wound up in Canadian court and the legal tussle continues as fall 2024 approaches.

The Russian airline, per a report in the Wall Street Journal, is suing Ottawa as it seeks to show Canadian government sanctions against it are invalid.

In August, Volga-Dnepr filed a $100-million claim against the Canadian government, the Wall Street Journal reported, arguing its business has suffered since Ottawa laid claim to the aircraft. The Antonov An-124 cargo plane is one of only 26 in the world.

The large plane was bringing a shipment of COVID-19 test kits in early 2022 from China to Pearson via Russia and then Anchorage, Alaska, where it apparently stopped for refuelling just before its landing in Mississauga.