Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago, carriers from Europe, Canada and North America have skirted around the country, making lengthy detours to avoid flying in its airspace. Now, CEOs are worried that those added miles put them at a disadvantage to Asian carriers who still use Russia for their long-haul flights.
“If you’ve got a Chinese carrier that is flying over Russia, they’ve got an unfair advantage over us,” Ben Smith, CEO of Air France-KLM, told the Financial Times on Friday. Smith complained that skipping Russian airspace added “three hours in flight time” for a plane traveling from Paris to Seoul.
