An Antonov An-124 Is Stranded in Toronto

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Vipal Monga, Russian Jet Gets Jumbo Parking Bill; Meter for plane stuck in Canada hits $330,000. Wall Street Journal, Apr 17, 2-23, at page A1.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/rus ... rking-fees-89d18eac

Note:
(a) "The flying monstrosity, one of 26 in the world, has a wingspan of 240 feet, double that of a Boeing 737’s"

monstrosity (n): "something that is very ugly and usually large  <The new office building is a real monstrosity>"
https://dictionary.cambridge.org ... english/monstrosity

(b) "a spokesman for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, a nonprofit that runs Pearson Airport"
(i) Greater Toronto Airports Authority
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Toronto_Airports_Authority
("The GTAA, despite its name ['Airports], only operates a single airport, Toronto Pearson")
(ii)
(A) Toronto Pearson International Airport
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To ... ternational_Airport
("The airport is named in honour of Lester B. Pearson, who served as the 14th Prime minister of Canada and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957")
(B) Lester B Pearson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_B._Pearson
(1897 – 1972; political party: Liberal; secretary of state for external affairs [now Minister of Foreign Affairs]  from 1948 to 1957; Prime Minister of Canada 1963-1968; In his capacity as secretary of state for external affairs, "he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force [UN's first peacekeepers] to resolve the Suez Canal Crisis)
(C) Suez Crisis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suez_Crisis
(Oct 29, 1956 – Nov 7, 1956 (1 week and 2 days); "On July 26, 1956, Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal Company, which prior to that was owned primarily by British and French shareholders. On Oct 29, Israel invaded the Egyptian Sinai * * * On Nov 5, Britain and France landed paratroopers along the Suez Canal * * * It later became clear that Israel, France [President René Coty] and Britain [Prime Minister Anthony Eden] had conspired to plan the invasion"/ table: Result  Coalition military victory; Egyptian political victory)

(c) "The plane, weighing in at something like 400,000 pounds [181,437 kg] * * * The 1980s-era Antonov An-124 cargo planes were originally built in Ukraine when it was part of the Soviet Union. About 55 were completed. * * * Last year, one of the cargo planes, owned by Ukraine's Antonov Airlines, carried a 66-ton Turkish telecommunications satellite"
(i) Wikipedia has a page for the namesake "Oleg Antonov (aircraft designer)": 1906 – 1984; Russian
(ii) Antonov is a Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing and services company: 1946- ; based in Kyiv.
(iii) Antonov (disambiguation)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_(disambiguation)
(may also refer to:
• Antonov (surname)
• Antonov Airlines, a Ukrainian cargo airline, division of the Antonov ASTC")

pushover (n):
"1: something accomplished without difficulty : SNAP
2: an opponent who is easy to defeat or a victim who is capable of no effective resistance "
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pushover

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TORONTO—The Toronto Pearson Airport is charging what amounts to nearly a penny a second for a special, extra-large parking space, a bargain given the size.

An Antonov An-124 cargo plane has been parked there for more than a year. The flying monstrosity, one of 26 in the world, has a wingspan of 240 feet, double that of a Boeing 737’s, and is roomy enough to ferry satellites, locomotive engines and wind turbines—as much as 150 tons of stuff.

Finding parking was easy compared with getting out. Canada restricted its airspace after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, grounding the Russian-owned behemoth without recourse—not unlike the Iranian man stranded in the Paris airport for 18 years. A spokeswoman for Canada’s transportation minister said the government had no plans to lift the restrictions. The Russian Embassy in Ottawa didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The cargo plane is parked at the east side of the airport, on one of the few stretches of tarmac sturdy enough to hold its weight. Parking fees, which went to the equivalent of 58 cents a minute from 55 cents a minute last year, have shot past $330,000 all told.

Despite the ballooning parking receipts, airport officials would like the cargo plane to leave. So does Volga-Dnepr, the Russian airline that owns it. The airline can’t even get permission for its mechanics to service the aircraft, which, like a car sitting idle outside too long, needs care and maintenance. Besides running the engines and checking electronics, the plane’s specialty mechanics need to rotate its 24 tires before they go flat.

Without a hangar, the blue-and-white painted aircraft has been exposed to snow, rain and wind, which risks lasting damage, according to mechanics and airline engineers.

Bill Clark, a lawyer specializing in aviation, is gleeful. The plane, weighing in at something like 400,000 pounds, is “going to become a giant paperweight,” he said. His Toronto-based firm, YYZLaw, was hired by an airline broker seeking to keep the plane grounded as long as possible so it doesn’t get used by Russia in the war.

If Canada decides to give Volga-Dnepr permission to remove the aircraft, Mr. Clark said his client will demand that it meet Canadian aircraft standards before being allowed to fly. He expects that will be tougher the longer the Antonov An-124 sits. “We’re just sitting here, watching this plane rust away,” he said.

Sameer Haqqi, a 47-year-old former aeronautical engineer from the Toronto area, said that would be a shame for a world short of such oversize cargo planes. “They shouldn’t scrap it. That’s a big no-no,” he said. “Why would you want to scrap a good plane?”

The stranded plane landed in Toronto on Feb. 27, 2022, three days after Russia invaded Ukraine. It had arrived from China with a delivery of personal protective equipment. Canada closed its airspace to Russian-owned planes before it could take off. The problem now is that it occupies tarmac space needed for parking other planes between flights, said Guy Nicholson, a spokesman for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, a nonprofit that runs Pearson Airport.

The 1980s-era Antonov An-124 cargo planes were originally built in Ukraine when it was part of the Soviet Union. About 55 were completed. Since the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian-owned An-124 cargo planes have been renamed. One is now called “Be Brave like Kherson,” in honor of the Ukrainian city retaken by Ukrainian forces last year.

Before the war, the giant aircraft passed through Toronto a few times a year, drawing the attention of plane-spotters, said Ernest Gutschik. He runs a YouTube channel that features videos of planes landing and taking off from the Toronto Pearson Airport.

The 226-foot-long plane lumbers down the runway during takeoff, Mr. Gutschik said, and then “it just floats off the ground.” He is a heavy-metal music fan and appreciates the growl of the plane’s four massive engines.  “When it flies overhead,” he said, “it has a unique shriek.”

Six of the An-124 planes are now flying in Western countries, one owned by the United Arab Emirates-based Maximus Air and five belonging to Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines. The Ukrainian planes fly from the airport in Leipzig, Germany, where they were relocated after the war started, said Dmytro Prosvirin, commercial director for Antonov Airlines. Two Russian-owned An-124s are grounded in Leipzig, he said.

Western bans on Russian aircraft have greatly limited the use of the remaining An-124 planes, said Dan Morgan-Evans, cargo director of London-based Air Charter Service. Aside from the commercial transport of oil-and-gas industry equipment and satellites, the Ukrainian An-124s are in use delivering equipment such as electric generators to Warsaw and other cities near Ukraine’s border.

Last year, one of the cargo planes, owned by Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines, carried a 66-ton Turkish telecommunications satellite from Toulouse, France, to Cape Canaveral, Florida, where it was launched into orbit by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Companies that need the aircraft must book them weeks in advance, Mr. Morgan-Evans said. “The planes are very, very busy.”

David Hills, a former airplane mechanic, said he was glad Canada has kept the plane grounded. “It’s a shame it’s idle, but it’s depriving a strategic asset to the Russian system,” said Mr. Hills, who volunteers for the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario.

On Facebook, Kerith Groom Richards, posted a picture of the plane parked in Toronto and also praised its detention. “And people say Canadians are pushovers,” she said.

Write to Vipal Monga at vipal.monga@wsj.com