Japanese airlines cancel flights to Europe as disruption grows

Japan’s two largest airlines have cancelled flights to Europe because of worries about flying over Russian airspace, in the latest disruption to aviation stemming from the conflict in Ukraine. ANA Holdings and Japan Airlines are among the first airlines to suffer disruption on journeys from Asia to Europe. Airlines typically travel over Russian airspace when flying between Europe and north-east Asia as the route known as the “Great Circle” offers the most direct journey. ANA cancelled several flights for Thursday and Friday, and said those scheduled on or after Friday will be rerouted. “This will result in longer flight times, and there may be changes in departure and arrival times as well as delays,” it said. JAL said it had cancelled flights after having considered various risks. The company added that it would announce a flight schedule for Friday and beyond “as soon as it is decided”. European airlines also face long new routes to Asia, following a spate of retaliatory flight bans between Moscow and Europe, the US and Canada. Japan has so far resisted calls by the US to join such restrictions. Avoiding Russian airspace adds more than 1,000 nautical miles and 150 minutes to a flight between Paris and Tokyo, and 855 nautical miles and 105 minutes between Amsterdam and Beijing, according to Eurocontrol, the European air traffic manager.<br/>