While several Asian countries are finally reopening to tourists thanks to a favorable epidemic situation, the war in Ukraine is disrupting air links between Europe and Asia.
The European Union and Canada have closed their airspace to Russian planes.
In retaliation for these sanctions, Russia bans airlines from 36 countries.
Bypassing Russian airspace will inevitably lead to longer flight times, to the point that some companies, such as Air France and Finnair, have decided to suspend their service to China and Japan, pending definition new routes.
This also penalizes travelers departing for New Caledonia or French Polynesia, given that the journey generally involves a stopover in Asia.
On the other hand, the direct connections between France and the countries of Southeast Asia, such as Thailand or India, are maintained, but it is to be expected that the flights will last longer than expected. .
Read alsoThese Asian countries that are finally reopening to tourists
Air France suspends flights to China, Korea and Japan
Air France
initially announced its intention to suspend services to and overflights of Russia from February 27, 2022 and until further notice, "
time to study flight plan options allowing avoid Russian airspace
".
Before finally choosing to operate a few flights to the destinations concerned – China, Korea and Japan – this Monday, February 28.
"
The details of the program for the following days will be communicated later
", specifies the French company on its site.
These three Asian countries are still closed to tourists because of the pandemic, this suspension, if it were to happen, would in reality only affect a tiny part of French travelers (professionals, expatriates, etc.).
Customers affected by these measures will be informed individually.
Read alsoTrain and plane tickets: favorable cancellation conditions, but until when?
At Finnair, no more shortcut via Siberia
Stopping the overflight of Russia is particularly penalizing for
Finnair
.
Among the only authorized to fly over Siberia, the Finnish company can no longer take the fastest route between Europe and Asia.
It therefore suspends its connections with Seoul, Osaka, Tokyo, Shanghai and Guangzhou until March 6.
"
Bypassing Russian airspace significantly lengthens flight times to Asia, and as a result the transport of passengers or freight is no longer economically viable or competitive
," Finnair boss Topi Manner said in a statement. .
Nevertheless, Finnair continues to connect Bangkok, Phuket, Singapore and Delhi to Helsinki, as well as Bangkok and Phuket from Stockholm Arlanda.
So again, travelers don't need to
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Longer flight times to be expected
Without suspending routes,
Cathay Pacific
, which is not affected by the ban on flying over Russia, is planning longer journey times on some flights.
“
We are currently avoiding all Ukrainian airspace and have contingency plans in place to avoid Russian airspace.
These include several different routes to the south that can potentially add up to 90 minutes of non-stop fuel flight time for the planes we use
,” the Hong Kong company
told
Le Figaro .
It should be noted that this one does not currently operate flights between Paris and Hong Kong, the French being prohibited from entering Hong Kong, including for transits,
What about Australia
For its part,
Qantas
is re-routing its flights between Australia and the United Kingdom via the Middle East and southern Europe.
Thus, the duration of the link between London and Darwin, sometimes nicknamed "Kangaroo route", is extended by one hour.
A measure that does not directly concern French travelers, the Australian national company not offering flights from France.
WAR IN UKRAINE: THE SITUATION EXPLAINED IN MAPS