Canadian Federal Court Rejects Volga-Dnepr Appeal, Russian An-124 to Remain Grounded at Toronto Pearson

What happened

Justice Ann Marie McDonald of the Canadian Federal Court has dismissed an appeal by Volga-Dnepr Airlines seeking to lift sanctions on its Antonov An-124 cargo aircraft, registered RA-82078, which has been grounded at Toronto Pearson International Airport since February 2022. The court found the airline had not shown the government's decision was unreasonable or lacked procedural fairness. Justice McDonald wrote that, given the wide deference held by the Minister of Foreign Affairs on such decisions, and being satisfied the Minister exercised that discretion reasonably, there was no basis for the court to intervene.

Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand welcomed the ruling, stating it confirmed Canada would not serve as a refuge for assets linked to sanctioned entities that support Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The aircraft arrived in Canada in February 2022 carrying COVID-19 test kits from China via Anchorage, [Alaska](/entities/411bdd69e8c5553ba3660c10910c0529), and became stranded when Canada closed its airspace to Russian flights following the invasion, making its return before the deadline impossible. It has since accrued daily parking charges of $1,650.

In summer 2023, Canada introduced new sanctions targeting the [Volga-Dnepr Group](/entities/028ca520e69753848ea8f468b3c78133) and two subsidiaries, Volga-Dnepr Airlines and AirBridge Cargo Airlines. The aircraft was formally seized by Ottawa in June 2023 over the owner's alleged complicity in the war in Ukraine. A government order registered in February 2025, SOR/2025-29, placed the aircraft under the possession and control of the Minister of Public Works and Government Services. Canada launched formal forfeiture proceedings in an Ontario court in March 2025 to obtain full legal title, with the Foreign Ministry noting it must first disentangle the ownership chain before a court can grant complete forfeiture. The aircraft has been parked outdoors at a remote stand at Pearson Airport for more than four years, was towed for a ten-day technical inspection in September 2025 before returning to its usual parking spot, and no airworthiness or flight-test flights have been recorded.

How it unfolded

Industry impact & what to watch

This case sits within a broader pattern of Western governments moving from freezing Russian-linked aircraft to actively pursuing outright forfeiture, turning grounded jets into contested legal assets rather than temporarily idled equipment. Once a court upholds a minister's sanctions discretion, the path shifts from administrative dispute to a property-law process that can run for years while an airframe sits outdoors accumulating parking costs and technical degradation.

Heavy-lift and outsize cargo capacity is a narrow segment dominated by a small number of An-124 operators, so any aircraft removed from service for years changes the available pool for specialized charters even without a formal fleet count being disclosed. The Ontario forfeiture proceedings remain the mechanism to watch, since the Foreign Ministry has said it must first disentangle the ownership chain before a court can grant full title, and that step, not this ruling, will determine whether Canada ultimately gains legal ownership of the aircraft.