Charter aircraft carrying 2 Russian nationals grounded in Yellowknife

Key takeaways: 

• Passengers were going to Resolute, Nunavut, for Arctic travel, states infrastructure minister.
• According to NWT Infrastructure Minister Diane Archie, an airplane carrying Russian people en route to the High Arctic was grounded there on Tuesday, March 1. 

An airplane carrying Russian nationals grounded: 

According to the NWT’s infrastructure minister, an aircraft bringing Russian nationals en route to the High Arctic was dropped in Yellowknife on Tuesday. 

“It appears that the plane and its passengers were on their way to Resolute, Nunavut, intending to take a scheduled Arctic overland journey in a large all-terrain utility vehicle,” Diane Archie informed the House on Wednesday. 

Archie stated that Transport Canada is now operating with Canadian Border Services to consider the matter. 

In an email to CBC late Wednesday, a representative for the Department of Transport confirmed that the plane grounded in Yellowknife was a charter with two foreign Russian citizens. Transport Canada operates with the Canada Border Services Agency to assess this matter.

The assessment will “decide if there has been any breach of the lately declared Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) restricting Russian airplane (owned, chartered, or certified) from working in Canadian airspace,” the representative stated in the email.

Also read: Arctic Winter Games International Committee bans Yamal, Russia

The aircraft is prohibited from departing the Yellowknife Airport till Transport Canada ends its assessment.

Canada’s Transport Minister reported on February 27 that it would shut its airspace to Russian aircraft operators following similar actions from other nations. On Monday, Transport Canada blamed a Russian Aeroflot Flight for infringing that prohibition. 

“Possible effects and enforcement actions will be resolved once the facts are clear,” Archie told of the plane that landed in Yellowknife.  

The minister did not say what occurred to the passengers onboard the aircraft. 

“We’re all conscious of the horrible and unjustified attack in Ukraine, and I appreciate that we’re all extra vigilance in this world, including those of us in the Northwest Territories, [who] remain concerned regarding the Russian government charge towards its friendly neighbors,” Archie expressed. 

Source – cbc.ca