Russia: Stranded Air India Flight Departs for San Francisco

Facts

• An Air India substitute flight on Thursday set off for San Francisco from Russia's Magadan airport carrying 216 passengers and 16 crew members on board.¹
• The rescue flight departed from Mumbai on Wednesday and reportedly carried aircraft engineers, spare parts, food, and other essentials to "ensure the health, safety, and security of all."²
• The news comes after a Boeing 777 traveling from New Delhi to San Francisco on Tuesday had to make an emergency landing in Russia's far east Siberia region due to a "technical issue with one of its engines."³
• All 232 of those on board, including American citizens, were reportedly moved to makeshift accommodation — photos and videos subsequently posted on social media showed many sleeping on floors in cramped quarters.⁴
• The stranded were allegedly housed in dormitories and basketball courts due to local infrastructural limitations, and were also banned from leaving the premises or using credit cards due to sanctions on Russia.⁴
• Though concerns were raised over how quickly the $200M US-built aircraft could be repaired — given Western sanctions on exports of aviation items to Russia — the unexpected diversion and safe passage to the US was reportedly made possible because India is permitted to use Russian airspace without restriction.⁵

Sources: ¹India Today, ²CNBC, ³Associated Press, ⁴The Times of India, and ⁵CNN.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by American Enterprise Institute. Nations like China and India are disregarding Western sanctions on Moscow for the sake of short-sighted business opportunism. The lucrative opportunities posed by undermining Western boycotts and continuing to use Russian airspace are hollow, however, as the countries are putting their own trade and commerce deals with nations including the US at risk. Rather than facilitating ongoing conflict in sovereign Ukraine by doing deals with Russia, India, China, and others should join with Western forces in punishing Russia's economy.
• Narrative B, as provided by WION. While nations like China and India — favored by and allowed to fly carriers freely over Russia — are being given an immediate edge over their Western competitors, the way in which flights generate more traffic mean any restrictions on key airspace, such as Russia's, harm the whole industry. Officials must recognize that, rather than embroiling this still-recovering, post-pandemic industry within ongoing geopolitical tensions, they must reach a deal to open up flight routes over Russia for all countries to protect aviation.

Predictions