The 777-200LR is the largest variant of the venerable Boeing twin-engine widebody airliner. It features 436 seats across two classes: 21 recliner-style Business Class seats and 384 standard Economy Class seats. The aircraft is used primarily for long-haul flights within Russia and to international destinations beyond.
Earlier this week, an Air India flight from New Delhi to San Francisco was forced to divert to Magadan in the Russian Far East due to an engine problem. This is an issue that is likely to be a major headache for the airline.
This diversion is a reminder of the prickly nature of relations between Russia and the West, with sanctions making it difficult for airlines to access the Western-built components required for repairs. In addition, the fact that the plane was in a country where such parts are not readily available could have implications for US citizens aboard.
It is not clear if the ailing Air India 777-200LR will ever resume its journey to the United States. The 216 passengers and 16 crew were moved to makeshift accommodation at the airport, which has limited facilities. Social media has been awash with photos of passengers in accommodations that look like dormitories or basketball courts, and some were even sleeping on the floor.
The incident comes less than a week after the https://143.198.211.51 engine of a United Airlines flight from Denver to Madrid caught fire on take-off. That aircraft was able to safely land, although debris fell on a residential suburb and the airline had to cancel a number of scheduled services.
Air India’s flight was operating on a codeshare with Rossiya Airlines, which is a subsidiary of state-owned flag carrier Aeroflot. Like its parent company, Rossiya operates a fleet of mostly Western-built aircraft and is expected to continue to do so. The airline has 10 777s, of which five are 777-300ERs.
The Russian-built 777-200LRs were bought by IrAero from the State Transport Leasing Corporation, which is owned by Russia’s Ministry of Transportation. IrAero hoped to use the planes on seasonal charter flights from Moscow to China, and on routes to the Far East of Russia served by Aeroflot with its state-supported ‘flat rates’. But the programme ran into a series of hurdles, not least the difficulty in getting a large Chinese travel agent partner on board. In late 2018, the leases were terminated and the planes returned to GTLK, which has filed several lawsuits against IrAero in a bid to recover monies owed on its hefty leasing payments. The dispute has been dragging on for almost two years now. Despite this, IrAero remains confident it will relaunch B777 operations sometime in the future. This may come about if the political situation in Russia improves, and the airline can find a suitable Chinese partner. Until then, the airline will have to rely on its fleet of short-haul Airbus A320s.
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