Russia is changing the economics of flights to Asia: European carriers are paying the price of longer routes
Four years after the closure of Russian airspace to a large part of Western airlines, the consequences are no longer visible only on the flight map. The difference in routes has become a matter of cost, travel time, and market competitiveness between Europe and Asia.
The flight between Shanghai and Helsinki is a good example of how a few thousand kilometres of detour can change the economics of a route. Today, Finnair needs more than 12 hours for that route, whereas before the closure of Russian airspace the flight took around eight hours. Chinese carriers do not have such a restriction, which is why Finnair is openly warning about unequal competition conditions.
Same destination, completely different route
Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022, the European Union closed its airspace to Russian carriers, after which Russia responded with restrictions on airlines from a range of Western states.
However, Russia's airspace is not closed to everyone. Chinese airlines continue to use it on some flights to Europe, while carriers such as Turkish Airlines, Emirates and Air Serbia continue to maintain routes to Russian cities. Air Serbia's current network lists Moscow and St Petersburg, among others, while Turkish Airlines and Emirates are still selling flights to Moscow.
The security risk has not gone away
The commercial advantage of the shorter route comes with a different risk assessment. EASA currently recommends avoiding Russian airspace west of the 60th meridian at all altitudes. The warning is valid until 31 January 2027, unless amended earlier. The agency warns of the possibility of misidentification of civil aircraft during the activation of air defence, although there have recently been no events indicating a security risk. This means that the decision to use the shorter route is no longer just an operational or financial issue, so it remains to monitor information and share it with passengers
