Sri Lankan court lifts ban on Aeroflot flight from leaving Sri Lanka.

COLOMBO (News 1st); A Sri Lankan Court on Monday (6) suspended an order preventing an Aeroflot flight from leaving Sri Lanka.

The order was suspended after the Colombo Commercial High Court considered a motion filed by the Attorney General.

The motion was considered in the presences of Colombo Commercial High Court Judge Harsha Setunga on Monday (6).

The Airbus A330-343 operated by Russian state-owned airline Aeroflot was denied permission to fly to Moscow as scheduled on June 2nd amid a legal dispute with a leasing company. The flight had more than 200 passengers onboard.

Celestial Aviation Trading Limited, one of the largest plane-leasing firms, is seeking to confiscate the jet after Russia failed to return its property.

The European Union in February imposed a wide-array of economic sanctions on Russia, including banning the leasing of EU airplanes, after it invaded Ukraine.

The bloc’s sanctions demanded Russia return any aircraft leased from EU firms by the end of March.

Leasing companies have confiscated 78 planes operated by Russian airlines since the sanctions were imposed, though nearly all occurred within the first few days.

Russia's Foreign Ministry has demanded Sri Lanka resolve the situation, warning it could hurt bilateral relations.