The airspaces closed by Russia’s occupation of Ukraine forced aircraft companies to find new and creative routes. For this reason, some flights can take more than 4 hours.
According to the news of Business Insider, Russia also retaliated after the EU restricted its airspace to Russian planes on February 27. Airlines then had to decide whether to suspend certain routes or take long routes around restricted airspace, and many airlines chose the latter option.
Flight Times Extended
On a flight from Belgrade, Serbia to Moscow on 27 February 2022, the Russian-flagged airline Aeroflot could not fly directly to the city via EU airspace, resulting in a three-hour flight time to the journey. added.
British Airways now flies 1 hour more on its service between London and New Delhi.
Long Routes Incur Extra Costs
New York-based aviation consultant Robert Mann tells ABC News that extra fuel and labor to operate longer routes can cost companies up to $12,000 per hour. It says it can cost.
Japan Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, which flew east from Tokyo to London on March 4, spent about 3 more hours in the air. Normally, the company would fly west over Russia. However, due to the closure of its airspace, it had to travel across the Pacific and over the North Pole to reach England.
The average flight time between the two cities before the restrictions was 12 hours and 12 minutes. However, flight time reached 14 hours and 50 minutes last Friday, according to Flightradar24 data.
Finnish-flagged carrier Finnair, on the other hand, is taking a longer flight path to connect Asia and Europe after temporarily suspending flights.
Flightaware data shows the carrier flying a detour that brings the total flight time to 12 hours 55 minutes, which is roughly four hours longer than its normal nine-hour journey.
13 Hour Journey Was 22 Hours
Russian charter airline company Azur Air is another example that went to Cancun, Mexico on 8 March. Azur’s regular route from Moscow to Cancun takes about 13 hours, according to Fightradar24, but Wednesday’s total roundabout took 22 hours.
For the Russian airlines that continue to operate international flights, routing is complicated and options are few. https://t.co/wIkRzgtBLU pic.twitter.com/r0Ejr6wl51
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) March 8, 2022
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