Sri Lanka moves to free court-detained Russian jet

COLOMBO; A Sri Lankan court on Monday revoked an order preventing the departure of an Aeroflot Airbus A330 aircraft held at the country’s main international airport over a commercial dispute.

Air traffic controllers had denied clearance for flight SU289 to return to Moscow on Thursday following an order from the same court grounding the aircraft for two weeks. A case had been filed against Aeroflot by Celestial Aviation Trading 10 Limited of Ireland over an undisclosed amount due to it from the Russian carrier.

The seizure of the aircraft led to a diplomatic spat, with Moscow summoning Sri Lanka’s top envoy to the Russian foreign ministry on Friday to hear a "resolute protest" over the detention.