![Longer routes to avoid Russian airspace are now common practice for many airlines](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/travel/2023/06/30/TELEMMGLPICT000341100712_16881256827320_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqqVzuuqpFlyLIwiB6NTmJwfSVWeZ_vEN7c6bHu2jJnT8.jpeg?imwidth=680)
How the Ukraine war has given Chinese airlines a long-haul advantage
As European carriers flounder, airlines not subject to the Russian airspace restrictions are roaring back into business
![Longer routes to avoid Russian airspace are now common practice for many airlines](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/travel/2023/06/30/TELEMMGLPICT000341100712_16881256827320_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqqVzuuqpFlyLIwiB6NTmJwfSVWeZ_vEN7c6bHu2jJnT8.jpeg?imwidth=680)
On a recent Finnair flight from Helsinki to Japan, I was awoken on descent to Tokyo by a flight attendant presenting a certificate informing me I’d flown over the North Pole. Bewildered, I looked up the flight route map on the seat-back television and confirmed that this was in fact the case. To avoid Russian airspace we had travelled up to the Arctic Circle and back down again. The detour added more than three hours to a journey that used to take under 10 – not a huge issue for those lucky enough to be lounging in the airline’s award-winning sofa-like business class seats, but a tough slog for economy passengers.
As the flag carrier of a country that shares a long border with Russia, Finnair has been one of the airlines hit hardest by the closure of Russian airspace to 36 countries, including the UK and all members of the European Union, introduced in February 2022 in response to sanctions targeting Russian aviation. The airline’s CEO, Topi Manner, told the Telegraph last month: “War is hellish in Europe, but in terms of corporate life, we have been to hell and back.”
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Prior to the invasion of Ukraine (and the pandemic), Scandinavia’s largest airline was delivering speedy connections from the UK to East Asia and South-east Asia, which were comparable in time to direct flights from Heathrow, even with a stop in Helsinki.
However, with the capital just 100 miles from Russia, avoiding the country adds both time and significant expense. The airline has managed to limit the damage by maintaining competitive rates at a time when flight prices are skyrocketing, by the strategic leasing of planes and by adding extra west-bound routes to the likes of Texas and Seattle.
Across Europe, airlines still bruised by the pandemic have been affected by the airspace restrictions. According to analysis from aviation data specialists OAG, British Airways has seen its flight time from London to Mumbai increase by 55 minutes and routes to Singapore and New Delhi are both 25 minutes longer.
Some previously popular Asian flight routes are still yet to restart post-Covid, including British Airways’ direct routes to Bangkok and Bali. Meanwhile Virgin Atlantic permanently axed its route to Hong Kong, citing “significant operational complications owing to the continued Russian airspace closure”.
Further afield, there have been consequences for other airlines adhering to the boycott. Korean Air has seen its flight times from Seoul to London Heathrow increase by an hour and a half, while its route to Amsterdam is almost two hours longer.
The lengthier flights have created operational headaches. KLM recently revealed it needed to recruit 80 extra pilots due to the war in Ukraine. “It’s difficult for us because we fly from the Netherlands to Asia and we need four pilots in the cockpit instead of three,” said its chief executive Marjan Rintel.
![British Airways’ direct routes to Bangkok and Bali have yet to restart following Covid](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/travel/2023/06/30/TELEMMGLPICT000341103856_16881275294460_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqrpfQw2hJyG_yckwxPAr0gmyy-GsNrhPQbLesooHneHs.jpeg?imwidth=350)
And now, 17 months into the boycott, a new challenge is emerging as Chinese airlines – which are not subject to Russian airspace restrictions – roar back into business. The three major state-owned players, Air China, China Eastern and China Southern, which all operate flights from Heathrow, are yet to fully ramp up their routes, but the time disparity is clear. Air China’s daily flight from Beijing to London, which restarted in April, takes around 11 hours and 20 minutes, while BA’s route currently clocks in at 13 hours 20 minutes.
While passengers may be willing to compromise when it comes to longer flights, the potential impact on prices may be harder to swallow. More time in the air means more jet fuel used, and it is likely that increased costs will eventually be passed on to passengers. With demand for the Chinese-operated routes still patchy, entrenched price differences between airlines have not yet emerged but are likely to do so the longer the airspace restrictions continue. In an interview with The Telegraph last November, Sir Richard Branson called for an airport ban on Chinese airlines that arrive in Britain after travelling over Russian airspace.
However, it’s not only Chinese carriers and Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific that are using Russian airspace. Qatar Airways, Etihad, Emirates and Turkish Airlines are also unaffected by the restrictions. And while flying via the Middle East won’t get you to the far reaches of Asia more quickly than a direct route, the potentially attractive price point could prove compelling. Emirates has flights to Tokyo via Dubai in the middle of July for just over £1,000 – around half the price of the direct BA route on the same dates and only four hours longer. Air China, meanwhile, is £800 cheaper than BA and only one hour longer on the way out (including a stop in Beijing).
Will our holiday destinations change?
Western airlines are currently streamlining their destinations in Asia and focusing on other markets, which could have an impact on holiday choices in the years to come. Virgin Atlantic is launching a route to Sao Paulo next summer and ramping up US flights, with a new service from Manchester to Las Vegas. Meanwhile Air France-KLM is focusing on expanding routes to Africa.
![Ho Chi Minh City: demand for trips to Vietnam and other Asian destinations has failed to rebound post-pandemic](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/travel/2023/06/30/TELEMMGLPICT000341103829_16881275439790_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqPSGJeyftEP9WNF5nKPELKbFnE7heq-OXUN9p51zj21c.jpeg?imwidth=350)
Demand for holidays to destinations including Thailand and Vietnam has not fully recovered since they reopened to tourists following the pandemic, with the latter only seeing 18 per cent of its pre-pandemic visitor numbers in 2022. The cost and lack of route options have likely played a part in this, although it’s not an even picture across the region. Despite the extended flight time, Japan is welcoming huge numbers of visitors.
What’s next?
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said earlier this month that airlines flying over Russia “create a safety and security risk”, highlighting the possibility of a diversion resulting in prominent US citizens on board such flights landing in the country. No American airlines currently fly over the country and many are only operating a small number of Asian flights.
What is clear is that many in the aviation industry want a solution to this emerging unfair advantage.
“We would like to have Russian airspace open to everybody,” said IATA’s director general, Willie Walsh, earlier this month.
“We would prefer to see everybody in a position to compete equally, but that is a political decision that can only be addressed once peace returns,” he added.
That possibility seems some way off, leaving passengers heading east with some decisions to make.