Airspace and Russia *

The impact on airlines with the use of forbidden Russian airspace has been less than expected according to OAG.


Some of the many sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation because of the war in Ukraine include banning Russian aircraft from European airspace.  This combined with the retaliation from Russia to bar European airlines from overflying the country, has affected the airline routes usually operated over Siberia for flights between Western Europe and Asia.

The effect has been that European airlines have had to route flights differently. Finnair, which had created an efficient hub for flights connecting between Asia and Europe at Helsinki before the pandemic, has had the most flights affected.

Its proximity to the Russian Federation inevitably meant that for Asia-bound flights the most direct air routes operated through Russian airspace.

The worst impacted service is the Finnair flight between Helsinki and Tokyo Narita Airport, with 3hrs 30mins added to a flight that used to have a 9hrs 30mins elapsed. This is an increase of 37%.  Finnair flights to Shanghai have seen a similar amount of time added while Incheon in South Korea has had 2hrs 45mins added.

European airlines have adjusted flight schedules but many of the changes are much smaller. The British Airways flight, for instance, from Heathrow to Singapore has added 25mins while the Air France flight to Delhi has had 30mins extra. KLM and Lufthansa services to Incheon have seen bigger increases, however, of 1hr 35mins and 1hr 15mins, respectively.

For airlines based in Asia, the impact has been more moderate. They have not been barred from Russian airspace but some have opted to skirt around Russian airspace even so, citing safety. Japan Airlines is one such airline taking this approach according to its website but the flight schedules are showing almost no change to flight times. Korean Air is also avoiding Russian airspace and its flights, at least in the eastbound direction seem to have had between 1hr 20mins and 1hr 50mins added.

www.oag.com

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OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum

Keith Wallis, Canterbury

Sadly, I can't see any meaningful change for months yet, Mr Tyler. HK finally allowed in non-residents from May 1 for the first time in 26 months. BUT fully vaxed travellers still need to quarantine for seven days on arrival in a designated hotel as well as undergo extensive testing. Why would you bother when other places, notably Singapore, are more welcoming. I can't see many rugby fans rocking up for the HK 7s in November if they have to quarantine for 7 days beforehand. Very sad.

Tony Tyler,

Sad to see Hong Kong and Cathay Pacific not even worth mentioning in this report. When will the HK Government open their eyes and minds, and implement sensible policies in respect of travel?