Saturday November 10th 2012 - Russia:

Various sources today are reporting an Airbus A340 carrying 256 persons enroute Paris - New Caledonia made an emergency landing at the Khabarovsk Novy airport in far-Eastern Russia. The airline has not been identified at the time of writing.

Reports indicate the aircraft crew responded to cockpit indications of an engine fire and elected to make an emergency landing as a precaution. It is unclear as to exactly what point on the great circle route the problem occurred. For reference, below is a map depicting what would be a great circle route direct to Noumea from Paris, superimposed with the GC route via Khabarovsk - almost coincident.

Emergency procedures were enacted at the airport, but were not required as the aircraft landed normally with no signs of fire. If you were going to land at a remote airport with engine fire indications, the new Khabarovsk Novy airport is the place to do it, as it is one of only five airports in Russia (and the only one in the Far East), that has been certified for the ninth (highest) category for fire fighting mission assurance and airport infrastructure, as well as search and rescue provision. This was evidenced by an airport response of 54 emergency personnel to this event.

Background Information on Khabarovsk:
The city of Khabarovsk is located in the Russian Far Eastern Federal District approximately 800 Km to the NW of Sapporo, Japan. It lies on the banks of the 2,500 Km long Amur River, which forms the border with China.

Khabarovsk Novy is an international airport serving 1.9 million passengers per annum (by comparison, Sydney, Australia services around 35 million passengers per annum).