Support The Moscow Times!

UTAir Boeing Makes Emergency Landing in Russia After Engine Fails

An employee stands in front of arrivals area of the main airport Pulkovo in St. Petersburg.

A Boeing 737 plane carrying 78 passengers plus crew landed safely at the main airport in Russia's second city of St. Petersburg on Wednesday after one of its engines failed.

"The plane made a safe landing. … No passengers were injured," Russian airline UTair, which operated the flight, said in a statement.

UTair is Russia's third-largest airline by passenger numbers and is more than 60 percent owned by a pension fund of oil company Surgutneftegaz. It carried 11.2 million passengers in 2014, up 7 percent on 2013.

The economic crisis has hit the company hard — it is being sued by a number of creditors over unpaid debts and defaulted on seven bond issues worth a combined 10 billion rubles late last year.

It has asked for state guarantees to help restructure its debt, which stands at around 168 billion rubles ($2.95 billion), including 85.2 billion in leasing liabilities.


Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysis and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more