An S7 Airlines Airbus A321 was unable to taxi off the runway after facing taking technical issues on Tuesday. The aircraft was stuck in Novy Urengoy Airport in the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous region. Let’s find out more about this incident.
Stuck
According to the Aviation Herald, the incident occurred following a flight from Moscow Domodedovo to Novy Urengoy Airport on an S7 Airlines Airbus A321-200. Flight S7-2571 landed safely in Novy Urengoy at 08:36 AM local time on Tuesday (4th May). However, things started to go wrong from there.
While trying to backtrack from the runway and taxi towards the gates, the aircraft was unable to turn around and make the short journey. Since the plane was stuck, a tug was sent out to tow the aircraft to the terminal. The aircraft and passengers all safely reached their destination without any further issues.
The aircraft being stuck resulted in one flight having to go around since the runway had not been cleared in time. Airport operations were resumed a few minutes after the plane was towed away and the runway tests were conducted.
Back in the sky
Once the plane landed, technicians likely moved in quickly to understand the issues with the aircraft and to restore it to service. Data from RadarBox.com shows that the plane was back in the skies later that evening, flying from Novy Urengoy back to Moscow. Flight S7-2752 left at 16:03 local time and arrived in Domodedovo at 18:10, over seven hours behind schedule.
However, this delay likely allowed technicians to fix the plane and ensure that it was safe to fly once again. Since the incident, the aircraft has flown 10 more flights in Russia’s bustling domestic market and shown no signs of any further troubles.
The aircraft itself is a 17.6-year-old Airbus A321-200, registered VQ-BQK, according to Planespotters.net. The jet began its service in late 2003 with Royal Air Maroc and remained in the country until 2010. In 2013, S7 Airline leased the aircraft and has been flying it ever since.
Bouncing back
S7 Airlines is the biggest Russian domestic airline, carrying an impressive 1.06 million passengers in February alone. The Siberian private carrier has led the market for nearly the last year and has seen a strong recovery during the pandemic. However, figures still remain 15% below last year’s levels, mostly due to the reduced international flying.
Meanwhile, other Russian airlines have been surging too. Aeroflot’s low-cost subsidiary Pobeda actually increased its RPK (revenue per kilometer) by 3%. The carrier has already seen positive growth for its domestic operations as demand returns.
For now, overall Russian domestic traffic remains down by just 8.7% year-on-year as of February. With the summer quickly approaching, airlines will be hoping to see much stronger figures this year.
Source: HERE
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