Aeroflot aircraft. File photoNEW DELHI, Jun 5 The situation with the delay of the Aeroflot aircraft at Colombo airport «is a matter of private law, not a matter between two states,» Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said. Departure from Colombo to Moscow On June 2, Aeroflot's Airbus A330-300 aircraft was canceled due to lack of permission from the Sri Lankan aviation authorities. The company reported that a court hearing on the removal of the arrest was scheduled for June 8. The Russian Foreign Ministry protested to the Ambassador of Sri Lanka in connection with this incident, and Aeroflot itself suspended flights to Colombo. «Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told the Russian authorities that the problem with the Aeroflot plane is not a matter between the two countries, but a private law issue,» writes the Daily Mirror, citing a representative office of the Prime Minister. He noted that Wickremesinghe discussed the issue of the Russian aircraft with the Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The day before, the Sri Lankan company Airport and Aviation Services Ltd, which is the second defendant in this case, said that the court noted the purely commercial nature of the dispute between Aeroflot OJSC — Russian Airlines «and the Irish Celestial Aviation Trading 10 Limited, it must be decided between the two parties, without the participation of the state.
