Airlines around the world are rerouting flight paths after the recent surge of airspace-travel restrictions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The European Union barred Russian aircraft from traversing its airspace, consequently triggering Moscow’s reciprocal ban on European aircraft.
By the end of last week, commercial airlines from Europe were warned to avoid Ukrainian airspace, as well as the surrounding nations of Belarus and Moldova. While many flights have been redirected as a result of aviation sanctions, some have been rerouted because of safety precautions.
As of March 2, airlines flying through the region were giving Ukraine a wide berth. The bulk of passenger carriers that were still crossing Russia’s airspace—such as Aeroflot, Rossiya Airlines, Ural Airlines and Utair—is Russian-owned or affiliated. A few international airlines are still operating in the area. Among them are carriers based in countries neighboring Russia, such as Belavia Belarusian Airlines, Air Astana of Kazakhstan and Turkish Airlines.
Finland’s Finnair has been forced to reroute many of its flights from the region that its aircraft typically traverse. A Finnair flight from Stockholm to Phuket, Thailand, now flies southeast toward Saudi Arabia rather than over Russia. While this route change hasn’t significantly affected the duration of the routinely 11-hour flight, aviation sanctions have resulted in hourslong delays in some other cases.
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Rerouting around Russia is costly, adding about 700 nautical miles for a flight from Frankfurt to Beijing, which is usually 4,217 nautical miles, according to Eurocontrol, which manages Europe’s air-traffic-control system. This led to an almost two-hour increase in flight time—totaling 10 hours and 27 minutes—for passengers aboard a Lufthansa AG flight on Feb. 27, compared with the same flights that had taken place three days prior.
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Certain northern routes that usually fly over Russia might need more time-consuming changes. A hypothetical rerouted round-trip flight between London and Tokyo could mean an additional 2 hours and $25,000 in fuel costs for the round trip, according to an analysis from Alton Aviation Consultancy.
Russia hasn’t banned Korean Air Lines Co. from its skies, which allows the South Korean carrier to maintain its fast route from Chicago to Seoul. If not for Russian airspace, Korean Air would have to take a longer route similar to United Airlines Holdings Inc.
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British Airways has also been affected by the closed airspace, forcing it to redirect flight BA142 from New Delhi to London, among others. Like the Finnair flight, this aircraft was directed southeast, flying below Ukraine and over the Black Sea, rather than up and over Russia and Kazakhstan. The rerouting resulted in a 15-minute increase for the passengers aboard on March 1, compared with those who flew on Feb. 25.
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Experts warn that flight times will increase, costs will rise and revenues will drop as more airlines determine routes that skirt Russian airspace.
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