An An-124-100 freighter belonging to Russian cargo carrier Volga-Dnepr Airlines (VI, Ulyanovsk Vostochny) that was seized at Toronto Pearson Airport ten months ago has racked up CAD305,655 Canadian dollars (USD224,055) in “parking fees” but is not going anywhere anytime soon, Canada’s transport minister Omar Alghabra has said.

RA-82078 (msn 9773054559153) was detained on February 28 as Western countries began to impose sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine four days previously. The aircraft had been carrying Covid-19 testing kits ordered by the Canadian government from China. The seizure of the Antonov Design Bureau quadjet came after the European Union and Canada - but before the United States - initiated airspace bans paralysing the movement of aircraft operated by Russian airlines carrying passengers or cargo.

Alghabra told the Mississauga news site Insauga that the stranded aircraft will not be using Canadian airspace until Russia’s war in Ukraine is over, and it will stay where it is until further notice. A Transport Canada spokesperson had similarly told the site in August that it would remain grounded for the time being, and since then has provided no further updates.

The meter continues to run, growing by CAD1,065.60 per day (USD781), Insauga reported citing Pearson’s 2022 aeronautical charges. Collected by the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, the parking tab will top CAD400,000 (USD293,368) by mid-March 2023.

It is not known whether Volga-Dnepr Airlines has been in contact with the Canadian authorities over the fate of the aircraft. Volga-Dnepr did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ch-aviation.

The An-124-100 Ruslan is a specialist strategic airlift freighter and one of the largest aircraft in the world, with a cargo payload capacity of up to 150 tons. According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Volga-Dnepr Airlines, whose subsidiaries include AirBridgeCargo, Atran, and now defunct London Stansted-based CargoLogicAir, operates ten An-124s, four of which are currently active, among its all-owned fleet of fifteen aircraft.

In early April, the Sviatoshynskyi District Court of Kyiv ordered the seizure of all of the Ruslans due to Volga-Dnepr Group’s alleged illegal renewal of airworthiness certificates.