The world’s crisis centers create challenges for flight route planners, because you can’t fly through Russia, you have to go around Ukraine, and you have to avoid many areas in the Middle East.
Finnair’s flight to Tokyo has been circling the North Pole for two years already. Previously, the flight route to Tokyo went over Siberia, but after Russia invaded Ukraine, the route changed.
The new route has extended the flight distance by almost four hours in one direction. The flight time is at least 13 hours.
Responsible director of Finnair’s operations center Jari Paajanen says that as the route grows, many things must be taken into account in the planning, such as the range of the planes, the lack of spare fields, space weather phenomena in the north and the ability of the crew to cope.
– Previously, when flying over Russia, the plane had three crew members in the cockpit. Today, we have four pilots on the majority of flights to Asia: two captains and two co-pilots. In this way, the strain of a long working day can be minimized.
Finnair’s flight to Japan has to make one of the longest detours to avoid Russian airspace.
According to Paajanen, it naturally increases fuel consumption and emissions from the flight, because, for example, in strong headwinds, Finnair cannot choose an environmentally friendly route, but must fly outside Russian airspace.
The closure of Russian airspace caused inconvenience to airlines
Siberia was an important route for all airlines flying to Asia, but the negative effects caused by the closure of Russian airspace were most significant for the Finnish airline Finnair.
– Before the closure of Russian airspace, Finnair was one of the few airlines that could operate round-trip to Asia in a day, giving it a certain competitive advantage compared to other European airlines.
– As a result of the closure of the Siberian route, Finnair has not been able to open its flights to most of its previous Asian destinations after surviving the pandemic, Paajanen states.
Finnair has eight A330 planes with which it has flown to Asia. The range of the planes is not enough at the moment due to the extended flight routes to Asia, and alternative destinations have had to be thought of for the planes. For example, the airline has increased its flights to America and the Middle East instead of Asia.
Paajanen says that when updating its strategy, Finnair is prepared for the fact that Russian airspace will remain closed for a long time.
The crossroads of air traffic now runs in the Middle East
Western airlines have to come up with more and more complicated routes from Europe to Asia, because new crisis centers have also developed in the Middle East.
For example, the British Airways flight from London to Delhi has been extended by almost 900 kilometers.
The BA142 flight first goes through Europe to Turkey. Then the plane curves north over the Caspian Sea towards Kazakhstan and turns back south towards India.
A more direct route would go through Iran and Afghanistan, but it is not safe to use the countries’ airspace.
A longer distance increases the duration of the trip, fuel consumption and the price of the plane ticket.
According to Paajanen, each airline makes its own risk assessment and, based on the risk assessment, decides which routes its planes fly at any given time.
For example, no western airline flies over North Korea and Ukraine. Most of the airlines, including Finnair, have also been traveling around the Middle East’s conflict zones of Yemen, Syria and Sudan for a long time.
American and British companies avoid Iranian airspace and circle Iraqi airspace to the west. Finnair, on the other hand, flies in the eastern parts of Iran, but avoids Iraq.
The war between Israel and Hamas makes it even more difficult to fly across continents.
Paajanen says that Finnair constantly evaluates the safety level of the Middle East regions.
– I want to emphasize that we only operate in areas that we perceive and identify as safe.
For example, after the outbreak of the Gaza war, Finnair has stopped its flights to Tel Aviv, Israel.
Avoiding crisis areas congests European airspace
When Ukrainian airspace was closed in 2022, hundreds of flights had to be rerouted from Polish airspace to neighboring countries – mostly to Germany.
German airspace was already already very crowdedand the country’s air traffic control announced last year that it could handle not more than two hundred extra flight per day.
Paajanen says that restrictions in Eastern European airspace are causing bottlenecks right now.
– Sometimes it can happen that there is no space in the airspace. Then the airlines have to wait, Paajanen explains.
– In aviation, a slot system is used, i.e. shifts are allocated to airlines and airplanes, when the airspace or airport can be used, he continues.
Congestion can be seen as longer flight times and increased fuel consumption for airlines, as airlines often have to go around congested areas.
Congestion has also occurred outside of Europe. For example, the airspace in Turkey, Iraq and Iran is congested because airlines use the Middle East as a route to Asia.
However, it is worth going around the crisis centers from afar.
We were reminded of this in July 2014, when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile over eastern Ukraine. 298 people died when the plane crashed. According to the researchers, Russia was behind the attack.
Just months before the events in Ukraine, in March 2014, the second plane of the Malaysian Airlines company, flight MH37 on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, disappeared almost without a trace in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
– The Malaysian Airline accident made airlines and aviation authorities more critical when they prepare risk assessments and guidelines above crisis areas, or when evaluating the usability of airspace in their immediate vicinity, Paajanen states.
For example, Finnair travels further from the western side of Ukraine than other airlines. The decision is based on the airline’s risk assessment of the area’s risks.
– Anything can happen in the Ukrainian territory, but we don’t fly in the Ukrainian territory, and we can’t fly there at the moment, says Paajanen.
Flights near Ukraine can be disrupted by undetected military drones, attacks and GPS interference.
Paajanen says that air traffic outside the restricted area concerning Ukraine has been found to be safe, and the effects of the conflict in Ukraine do not extend to the area of operation.
Paajanen says that GPS interference occurs, for example, in the Black Sea and the Middle East. All airlines operating in the region experience it, including Finnair.
– However, modern airplanes are able to maintain their navigation accuracy, even if their GPS is disturbed by the weather, the expert says.
More than 55 companies fly over Russia
Russia also has to rethink its flight route, because the airspace of EU countries is closed to Russian planes.
Many Asian airlines have benefited from the closure of Russian airspace, as Russia has not prohibited them from using its airspace.
More than 55 international airline fly directly across Russia from Asia to Europe and the United States.
The Chinese and Indians have taken over the market from European airlines. They fly from Asia to Europe faster and with less fuel.
Not everyone wants to use Russia as their flight route. For example, Korean Air, Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines voluntarily avoid Russian airspace.
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