Two large aircraft take off from a former Soviet base towards Asia, they cut their transponders and land… in Iran. This is not the scenario of a new spy blockbuster, but of a very real operation that took place in Lithuania last February. As improbable as it may seem, two Airbus A340s were stolen.
Transponders cut and course change
It all starts with an ordinary day at Siauliai International Airport. Located in the north of Lithuania, this former Red Army base is open to civilian traffic. At the same time, it remains used by the military, notably for NATO air policing missions in which the French Rafale and Mirage 2000 take part. Waiting on the tarmac are three four-engine airliners leased by Macka Invest, a company registered in Gambia. As planned, the first two take off with a validated flight plan: destination Sri Lanka for the first and the Philippines for the second.
But nothing happens normally. The transponders which allow the aircraft to be tracked are cut off and the two A340s finally land in Iran. The Swiss site ch-aviation even specifies that they would have landed at two different airports, in Tehran and in Chabahar. In Lithuania, the stock of spare parts carried by the third A340 – which is also preparing to take off – arouses the suspicions of the authorities. “Its flight was planned to the Philippines, but we thought it could end up in Iran like the first two planes,” said Aurelia Quazada, the director of Siauliai airport in a statement relayed by France 3. When we learned that the first plane had landed in Iran, we just didn’t let it go.”
Circumvent the American embargo
Affected by an embargo decided by the United States on the sale of new planes or spare parts, Iran has many airliners grounded due to their condition. In the past, the Islamic Republic has already organized several operations of this type to indirectly recover used A340s.
In 2022, four aircraft took off from Johannesburg (South Africa) to reach Uzbekistan, but finally landed in Iran. Two former A340s from the French Air and Space Force sold at auction to an Indonesian company also landed in Iran, as several satellite photos have proven.
Questionable acquisition of aircraft is not uncommon. In 2022, Russia decided to seize 400 Western aircraft rented or present on its soil in response to sanctions decided by Ukraine’s allies after the outbreak of war.
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