What The Heck Is Going On With This Aeroflot Flight?

The past couple of days have been crazy as airlines are dealing with new airspace restrictions. Russian airlines are most affected by the sanctions against Russia.

I've highlighted some of the strange Aeroflot flights we've seen in the past 24 hours, but I think this one might take the cake.

Aeroflot’s aborted flight to Verona

The European Union has banned Russian airlines. Planes that were returning to Russia from abroad had to take some circuitous routes. We haven't seen a lot of flights leave Russia today.

One exception is Aeroflot's flight SU7236, which filed a flight plan from Moscow, Russia to Italy. Italy is a member of the European Union. The flight number is not one that Aeroflot usually uses, suggesting that it was a special flight.

The flight began at 2:30PM Moscow time with the registration code VQ-BWF. Normally, the flight between the two airports would take around three hours.

It's not the route the airline took, since stuff is complicated nowadays, and you can fly to destinations you're banned from.

• The plane started flying east to avoid western Russia (as all airlines are right now), and then slowly started turning west, eventually flying over Georgia and then Turkey
• Roughly five hours after takeoff the plane made it to the border of Turkey and Greece, where the flight entered a holding pattern
• After holding for roughly 30 minutes, the plane once again turned east, and then entered another 10 minute holding pattern closer to Istanbul
• Well over six hours after taking off from Moscow, the plane diverted to Istanbul (IST); as of the time of this post, the plane is still on the ground there

What exactly happened here?

As bans were put into place, Aeroflot operated some questionable routes. An Aeroflot A350 was banned in Canada but was allowed to fly hours later on humanitarian grounds.

The situation is black and white. An Aeroflot aircraft left its hub to fly to a country that is banned from operating to. What was going on here?

• Was Aeroflot again claiming this was a “humanitarian” flight? If so, was clearance not received for that in advance, or what?
• Since the plane is technically registered in Bermuda, did Aeroflot think it could get away with this, arguing it’s not a Russian aircraft?
• Does Aeroflot simply not care, and decided it might as well give the flight a shot and see what it can get away with?

The only plausible explanation I can come up with is that the plane was being taken back by the airline since many companies are having to end their lease with them. Maybe the paperwork wasn't filed correctly.

I don't have an answer, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who's curious.

Bottom line

The airline won't be doing much international flying now that it's banned from dozens of countries. The airline tried to fly to Italy today, but was turned away at the border between Turkey and Greece.

The plane diverted to Istanbul because it didn't have enough fuel. I am curious about what happens with this flight next.

What was going on with the Aeroflot flight?