IATA, which represents airlines: Russia’s overflight ban to be lifted when China begins to open up to tourism

European airlines find themselves in an unfair competitive position due to the sanctions, says IATA CEO Willie Walsh.

Director General of IATA, the international airline trade association Willie Walsh suggests lifting Russia’s overflight ban if China starts opening up to tourism next year.

Currently, EU sanctions prevent Russian airlines from flying within the Union. Russia has responded to EU sanctions by closing its airspace to European airlines.

The journey across Russia between Europe and Asia is significantly shorter than other routes between continents.

European airlines are put in an unfair competitive position because of the sanctions, because Chinese companies are still allowed to fly to Europe via Russia, says Walsh.

– Thus, the sanctions aimed at Russia will affect Europe, Walsh commented to in Geneva, Switzerland.

So far, the number of flights between Asia and Europe is low due to China’s corona lockdown. According to Walsh, the competitive situation will become more difficult if China slowly opens up to tourism from next year.

The flight ban has increased emissions

From the point of view of global aviation, the closure of Russian airspace has had many negative effects on European and Asian countries, as Russia’s area is huge.

In the past, for example, the most direct connection from Helsinki-Vantaa to Japan was via Siberia, but now the flights make long round trips. Long flights have increased carbon dioxide emissions and financial difficulties for airlines.

The shutdown has weakened, for example, Finnair’s earnings. The company said in November that it was planning layoffs, which could lead to the dismissal of up to 450 people.