The parking fee for an An-124 grounded at Pearson Airport has topped $100,000 and it will keep climbing at more than $1,000 a day while Russia continues its war against Ukraine. The aircraft, which delivered a load of COVID-19 supplies from China to Toronto on Feb. 27 has been on the ramp at Pearson ever since, forbidden to take off under sanctions that went into effect on the day of its last flight. “As part of a suite of economic countermeasures against the Russian Federation following its invasion of Ukraine, the Government of Canada closed Canada’s airspace on Feb. 27, 2022, to Russian-owned, chartered or operated aircraft, including in the airspace above Canada’s territorial waters,” the federal government said in a news release.
Unable to fly, the aircraft’s owner Volga-Dnepr was assigned a parking spot on the east side of the airport. “The airline is subject to our standard rates and charges to park the aircraft at Toronto Pearson,” said the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA). “This currently costs $1,065.60 for each 24-hour period.” Ukraine has said that as long as the world keeps supplying it with weapons, it can hold out against the aggressors for at least another year.