One day after Europe imposed a flight ban on Russian airlines, Russia did the same for European airlines. This was mainly a symbolic action; European airlines had been avoiding Russian airspace for several days as a precaution. KLM, for instance, decided on 26 February to stop overflying Russia. Two flights that were heading for Russia were summoned to return. The main reason were the sanctions that Europe had announced the day before. Those sanctions prohibit the export of aircraft parts. In case of a technical issue over Russia, it might not be possible to fly in spare parts to repair an aircraft. Airlines did not want to take that risk.

The closure of Russian airspace mainly affects flights to destinations in the east of Asia, such as Tokyo, Shanghai and Seoul. As an alternative, European airlines now choose a southern route over the Black Sea, Georgia, Kazakhstan and China, but this route is almost two hours longer (see illustration below). The detour leads to additional costs. Not only because of a higher fuel consumption, but also because crew needs to be compensated for longer working times. Maintenance and depreciation costs increase as well.

For large aircraft such as the Boeing 777 and the Airbus A350 – which are widely used on the routes in question – operational costs amount to roughly € 10,000 per hour. Two extra hours of flying time therefore leads to a cost increase of about € 20,000 and double for a return flight. This translates into a cost increase of € 150 per return passenger. On the other hand, airlines no longer have to pay fees for overflying Russia. For Helsinki-based Finnair, the cost increases were already reason to stop flying to Asia. Other European airlines, such as Air France and Lufthansa, keep flying to Asia via the southern route and take the higher costs for granted.

It remains to be seen whether the higher costs will be passed on in the ticket price. Asian airlines are still allowed to use Russian airspace and continue doing so. They are therefore not confronted with cost increases for the time being. In the competitive game, European airlines may decide not to raise their prices either.

Although a flight detour is annoying for passengers and airlines, but it is nothing compared to the suffering the Ukrainian people are currently experiencing. The consequences for the aviation sector are also relatively limited. Because of the corona pandemic, many Asian countries still apply strict entry restrictions, as a result of which passenger traffic to Asia remains at a low level. The situation is different for cargo. That market is ‘booming’ and the closure of Russian airspace also affects cargo flights.