The British F-35 fighter jet, stranded in Kerala for the last 22 days, was finally shifted from its grounded position to the hangar on Sunday, July 6. This move was made after an aviation engineers’ team from the UK arrived at the Thiruvananthapuram International airport to repair the Lightning jet of Britain’s Royal Navy. It’s time to know parking charge for UK’s F-35 that occupied a bay designated for VIP aircraft.
The aircraft was parked at Bay 4 under close monitoring of Central Industrial Security Force. Indian Defence Research Wing estimated the single day parking fee of F-35 to be ₹26,261 per day. Thus, as per this estimate, the parking fee of 22 days amounts to ₹5,77,742. Notably, the British authorities had declined an offer from Air India to move the fighter jet to hangar.
The report further mentions that the airport authorities have not finalised the exact fee structure and it is possible that the Indian government may cover the costs.
This incident is atypical as it is the first time this advanced fighter jet has been stranded abroad. During the prolonged stay, the fighter jet was guarded by a six-member team from the HMS Prince of Wales. The jet worth $110 million (£85-million) was towed from the tarmac to a hangar after several attempts to repair the aircraft proved to be unsuccessful.
A part of the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group of the UK’s Royal Navy, the fighter jet had taken off from a British aircraft carrier stationed approximately 100 nautical miles off Kerala’s coast. The stealth combat jet made an emergency landing in Kerala on June 14 due to adverse weather and low fuel levels.
On Sunday, a team of technical experts arrived at Thiruvananthapuram airport on board the British Royal Air Force Airbus A400M to assess the F-35 jet. Visuals shared by ANI show F-35 being towed to the hangar from its grounded position at the airport.
“The F-35 fighter aircraft has been taken to the Air India hangar at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport in Kerala, where a technical team of UK Royal Air Force would try to repair it and take it back,” ANI quoted Defence sources as saying on July 6.