The European agency in charge of air traffic control, Eurocontrolrecently published some edifying statistics on the flight times between Europe and Asia, before and after Russia's war in Ukraine. And this at a time when the European Union has banned Russian aircraft from flying over its territory and Russia has taken similar measures in retaliation.
To measure the effect of the conflict in Ukraine on long-haul flights to Asia, Eurocontrol selected four European cities and analysed the distances travelled between these four departure points and a series of Asian destinations. The cities selected are all in Northern Europe - in this case Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Frankfurt and Helsinki.
According to Eurocontrol, the extra flight time has led several airlines to cancel their flights. This is the case of Finnair which interrupted its services to Beijing, Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo Haneda (the airline still serves Narita). SAS Scandinavian Airlines has also abandoned its flights between Copenhagen and Tokyo.
This decision is motivated by passenger and freight demand, additional fuel costs, scheduling, staffing and airport constraints (boarding gates and curfews). In some cases, there is also a lack of suitable aircraft to serve the route.
Helsinki, the hub hardest hit by the war in Ukraine
Again according to Eurocontrol, if a route is not cancelled, however, its frequency is often reduced (see table). In its analysis, the agency notes that Helsinki has seen a record number of airlines affected by the closure of Russian airspace. Eurocontrol states that passengers now have to reckon with additional distances ranging from 1,400 km for Singapore to almost 4,000 km for Seoul.
To put these figures in context, 1,400 km translates into 1.25 hours extra flying time, and 4,000 km adds 7 hours. for a round trip between Helsinki and Seoul. Before the war, the flight from Helsinki to Seoul took 8.5 hours. Today it is 12 hours. The extra seven hours on a round trip is almost as much as a one-way trip before the closure of southern airspace.
Copenhagen is also being extended by around 1,500 km to Singapore and Shanghai. Further south, Amsterdam and Frankfurt are less affected. But there are significant longer flight times to Seoul, Japan and China (Beijing and Shanghai).
It's a fact, Seoul remains the most affected destinationRegardless of the airline chosen. This is not preventing traffic from resuming, however. Korean Air has just announced the return ofa fifth weekly flight from Paris-CDG to Seoul on 12 June. And who will move to daily frequency from 1st July.
On the other hand, the war had no impact on India, Singapore or Thailandas well as from Amsterdam than from Frankfurt. It should also be noted that there are no no difference in journey times for Chinese airlines flying to Europe since the start of the war. Sino-Russian friendships have played a big part in this.
