The BBC stories on one of many stranger aviation tales that we’ve seen, whereby a constitution airline was working an itinerary that aroused suspicion from authorities.
Legend Airways A340 grounded in France as a consequence of human trafficking
An Airbus A340-300 belonging to Legend Airways stopped in France to refuel, however the jet has now been grounded, as authorities had been tipped off that folks had been being trafficked on this flight.
For some context, Legend Airways is a Romanian constitution airline, which operates a fleet of as much as three Airbus A340-300s. The jet concerned on this incident has the license plate YR-LRE, and it’s a airplane that was produced in 2008. It first flew for Finnair, earlier than ultimately flying for Air Belgium, after which in 2023 it was transfered to Legend Airways.
Lengthy story quick, this jet had 303 Indian nationals onboard, and was scheduled to fly from Fujairah, United Arab Emirates (FJR), to Managua, Nicaragua (MGA), with a refueling cease in Paris-Vatry, France (XCR).
On Thursday, December 21, 2023, the jet flew from Fujairah to Paris in a flight time of simply over eight hours. Whereas the plane was solely alleged to be refueled there, authorities in France had acquired an “nameless tip” that folks had been being trafficked on this flight.
With these suspicions, authorities met the flight, and ended up stopping the plane from persevering with its journey. Whereas passengers had been initially allowed to remain onboard the plane, the airport’s arrivals space was later became a ready space with beds. An investigation has now been launched into the aim of this flight. Among the passengers have additionally been taken into custody.
Representatives from Legend Airways have stated that they’re cooperating with French authorities, and hope that the airplane will be capable of fly once more within the coming days.
What an fascinating story…
As of now there are extra questions than solutions. Plainly what’s being recommended right here is that migrants had been attempting to begin their journey to the USA through Nicaragua, since Central American is a well-liked start line for this.
For instance, only in the near past, El Salvador added a brand new $1,130 “airport enchancment tariff,” which applies completely to nationals of sure nations (together with Indian nationals), and clearly appears to be aimed toward potential migrants.
That’s the one logical clarification, since final I checked, Managua wasn’t the preferred trip hotspot for Indian nationals residing in Fujairah, to the purpose that there would have to be a direct hyperlink.
Assuming I’m not going within the improper route with my thought course of right here, this raises a number of questions:
- Have been the Indian nationals taking this flight short-term employees within the UAE, or how did they get to the UAE? For a lot of short-term employees, their passports are held onto whereas they’re within the nation, so I’m curious how all of this was orchestrated
- How precisely does the enterprise facet of those sorts of constitution flights work? Is there one social gathering that charters the airplane after which makes a revenue promoting tickets to people, and does the airline simply flip a blind eye and never ask any questions?
- For individuals who are knowledgable concerning the constitution enterprise, any thought of to what extent an airline is chargeable for the individuals and cargo they’re carrying, once they’re leasing out the airplane to a shopper?
- Are immigration officers in Nicaragua in any means in on this? Or do they only not ask any questions when a flight sample like this operates, and stamp everybody into the nation?
Previously couple of weeks, Legend Airways operated this precise route twice (from Fujairah to Managua through Paris), and managed to efficiently full the journeys. I’m curious if the flights to Managua had been full, whereas the flights to Fujairah had been empty, or what…
The tail numbers for Legend Airways’ three plane certain have some fascinating routes. Plainly the airline additionally operates a number of journeys to Medina (presumably for pilgrims), and likewise has plenty of flights between secondary airports in India and the UAE.
These days it’s fairly straightforward to amass some used plane and begin constitution operations. Within the case of Legend Airways, the airline solely acquired all of its A340s in 2023, so it’s a brand new operator. I’m curious to see how the lengthy airline sticks round…
Backside line
Romanian constitution service Legend Airways has been working some constitution journeys from the UAE to Nicaragua through France. The flight this week had 300+ Indian nationals on it, and through a refueling cease in France, authorities had been tipped off about some human trafficking issues. Each the plane and passengers are actually caught on the airport in France, and we’ll see how this performs out.
There are a number of fascinating constitution operations on the market, although this certain is one which makes you scratch your head…
What’s your tackle this story?
