Russian tourists stranded in Cuba amid escalating aviation crisis
Western sanctions have not only struck the military but also the civil aviation industry. This reality was harshly felt by the Russians, who had been grounded in Cuba for several unending hours.
Russians caught in airport limbo
According to the Mash channel, this concerns flight N4552 from Cayo Coco to Moscow, operated by Nordwind Airlines, which was scheduled to lift off on February 8 at 18:00 local time. "However, the take-off was shifted to 05:40 local time, citing a shortage of fuel as the initial cause. It was later revealed that the aircraft was faulty", reads the report.
Caught in this predicament are about 300 Russians who are losing their composure.
Besides shouting: "We want to go home," some tourists are engrossed in fiery disagreements.
A string of aircraft malfunctions
Since the dawn of the new year, aircraft from Russian airlines have faced at least 15 breakdowns. "A third of these were engine-related failures," noted the 'New Edition' portal towards the end of January.
According to the Federal Aviation Transport Agency, there were 670 reported "serious aviation incidents" from January to November 2023 in Russia. Alarmingly, 400 incidents were directly attributed to "aircraft failures".
"The problems are conspicuous: carriers are restricted from purchasing original spare parts legally. Aviation authorities are permitting the use of these parts beyond their safety shelf-life, thereby inviting accidents," points out Andrej Patrakow, head of RunAvia, a company specializing in-flight safety.
