On the afternoon of January 23, the AZV2998 flight of Azur Air in Russia (operating the Phuket – Baikonur route) issued a distress signal over Chinese airspace, preparing for an emergency landing in Lanzhou. The aircraft was carrying 238 passengers.
According to data, the flight was originally scheduled to fly from Phuket, Thailand to Baikonur, Russia, departing at 10:21 local time and expected to arrive at the destination airport at 17:55.
Reported by “The New Yellow River”, the flight prepared for a diversion to Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport. At 17:00, when contacted the Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport, the staff mentioned that the flight was still circling and had not yet landed, with the specific reason unclear.
“Flightradar24” data showed that the flight circled near Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport to burn fuel before safely landing on the runway.
A spokesperson from Azur Air in Russia confirmed on the 23rd that there were a total of 238 passengers and 7 crew members onboard, with no injuries reported. Experts will soon assess the technical condition of the aircraft to determine the cause of the emergency landing.
Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport disclosed that the airport’s flight operations were not affected at present.
The emergency code 7700 is a globally universal code for emergency situations, where the transponder code will be set to 7700 in case of an emergency.
Previously, media reported that in the early hours of December 16, 2025, a Boeing 767-300 freighter of Georgia’s CAMEX Airlines had to make an emergency diversion to Zhongchuan Airport due to a failed right engine.
The aircraft was originally scheduled to depart from Xi’an Xianyang Airport on December 15 at 21:27, heading to Tbilisi, Georgia. However, the right engine suddenly failed during the flight.
To ensure safety, the crew decided to divert and made an emergency landing at Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport, circling over the city for more than 20 rounds to burn fuel before the emergency landing.