MOSCOW. May 15 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Defense Ministry has commented on Internet reports about the "discovery" of a Tupolev Tu-154M airplane with the tail number RA-8155 in the Seychelles islands.
"The Tu-154M plane with the tail number RA-8155 was in fact making a commercial flight from Chkalovsky Airport (Moscow) to Victoria Airport (Seychelles) in early May this year. There were no military, public civil servants, other officials and delegations among its passengers," the ministry said in a statement obtained by Interfax-AVN on Thursday.
The airplane is owned by the state airline company called "The 223rd Flight Detachment," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
According to the company's by-laws, one of the objectives of the 223rd Flight Detachment is to conduct domestic and international air passenger services on a pay basis (charter flights) in accordance with the law, the Defense Ministry said.