Overflying Russia.......or not.

[flymo]

Flew back from Hong Kong to UK the other day on CX251 and now Cathay seem to no longer be flying over Russia on some (all ??) European routes meaning a longer flight. Not that they're flying that many flight these days of course but that's another story. CX 271 to Amsterdam also affected today.

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At 14h45m this is now my longest ever flight and the almost 2½ hour later arrival caused quite a few passengers some issues with connections judging by the sprints off the plane. I would have thought maybe a slightly earlier departure could have been organized to limit the lateness of the arrival but of course it's not always that easy. Anyway, this also means less money to Russia for the overflights too.

 

[edwin_m]

I read somewhere that the Russians pitched the fees for overflying as just less than the fuel cost of going the long way round, so the airline probably doesn't have a big financial hit but does have costs from disruption and less efficient use of the aircraft. But I guess the big worry would be what happened if they had some problem and had to land in Russia. I imagine it would be difficult to get the passengers out and impossible to get the aircraft back.

 

[Mr_B]

I read somewhere that the Russians pitched the fees for overflying as just less than the fuel cost of going the long way round, so the airline probably doesn't have a big financial hit but does have costs from disruption and less efficient use of the aircraft. But I guess the big worry would be what happened if they had some problem and had to land in Russia. I imagine it would be difficult to get the passengers out and impossible to get the aircraft back.

Even stranger for flights to/from Japan to UK, they now have to go the whole other way round over Alaska, Canada, Greenland, thus crossing the dateline too.
Eg flight JL42 - https://fr24.com/data/flights/jl42#2b25a794

 

[edwin_m]

Even stranger for flights to/from Japan to UK, they now have to go the whole other way round over Alaska, Canada, Greenland, thus crossing the dateline too.
Eg flight JL42 - https://fr24.com/data/flights/jl42#2b25a794

My father used visit Japan on business back in the 80s. I think at the time they couldn't do it in one leg and had to re-fuel in Moscow. On the way back there were exceptional headwinds or some such and they had to take fuel at some minor airport in Siberia. He duly spent an hour or so in a dingy lounge enlivened only by copies of Brezhnev's speeches that had thoughtfully been put out for the capitalists to read.

He went via Alaska after that.

 

[jfollows]

I went London-Osaka in the 1980s.
Summer 1982: Cathay Pacific Gatwick-Bahrain-Hong Kong; day in Hong Kong followed by flight to Osaka. Return journey similar.
The day in Hong Kong - New Territories on the way out, HK hotel on the way back - was fascinating.
Easter 1983: Because I went with Granny it had to be a direct flight because she would come back on her own; Heathrow-Anchorage-Tokyo-Osaka with BA. When she returned I met her flight at Heathrow and saw her on to a connecting flight to Manchester. (I had come back on my own sooner)
Summer 1984: USSR airspace open, Cathay Pacific Gatwick-Hong Kong non-stop, 35 minute change into onward flight to Osaka. First Class. I came back by boat/train/trans-Siberian.

Clearly the opening of USSR airspace back then made a huge difference.

Anchorage was wierd, though, in the day - a vast congregation of flights for Japan/Korea originating from London/Paris/New York at around the same time. Refuel and take off again. Stuffed polar bear in the terminal building. Almost nobody left or joined the flights.

EDIT NB KAL 007 New York-Seoul via Anchorage was shot down on 1 September 1983, so only a few months after I flew to Japan via Anchorage.

 

[306024]

Even stranger for flights to/from Japan to UK, they now have to go the whole other way round over Alaska, Canada, Greenland, thus crossing the dateline too.
Eg flight JL42 - https://fr24.com/data/flights/jl42#2b25a794

That has to be the best bit of Short Term Planning I’ve ever seen