Russian government owned IL-96-300 landed in Washington DC avoiding EU airspace

Despite the recent United States flight ban on aircraft from Russia, a Russian plane set flight to the country’s capital Mar. 5. An Ilyushin Il-96-300 owned by the Russian government has taken the northern route to Washington DC to avoid European airspace, FlightRadar24.com tracking shows.

The United States followed the likes of Canada and the United Kingdom, and the European Union in banning Russian airlines and aircraft from its airspace. However, this plane seems to be an exception as it entered U.S. airspace and landed in DC.

Flying nearly in a straight line north before heading west over the Norwegian Sea, the IL-96 veered south to join the North Atlantic Ocean under Iceland’s airspace. Registration RA-96019 took off from St. Petersburg and arrived Washington Dulles after a journey of 12 hours at 17 minutes, flying over the Atlantic, south of Nova Scotia, Canada.

Flight RSD88 – Special Flight Detachment Rossiya 88

The aircraft has been busy city-hopping over the last few weeks, being spotted in Moscow, Novosibirsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Casablanca, and Havana. According to ch-aviaton, the unit is 13 years old. It performed its first flight in February 2009 and was delivered to Rossiya shortly after. The plane holds 124 economy seats, 24 business seats, and nine first class seats, providing a total capacity of 157.

Since 2010, the aircraft has been operating under the organization of SLO Rossiya, which is a Russian government group. When it comes to this type, SLO Rossiya holds a total of five IL-96-300s, five IL-96-300PUs, and one IL-96-300VPU, all built for government and military use.

Only 30 Il-96s have been built. The Russian jet has most notably been deployed for military missions. Commercially, only Cubana flies the plane outside Russia. The flag carrier of Cuba currently has four units in its fleet. FlightRadar24.com & simpleflying.com