Russia’s war on Ukraine redrew the map of the sky – but not for Chinese airlines

In the early days of the invasion of Ukraine, the European Union and Russia closed off their airspace to each other – an aerial blockade that has remained in place ever since. Now that China has reconnected to the world after almost three years of Covid border closures – welcome news to the world’s recovering tourism markets – some in the European aviation industry are calling out what they feel is an unlevel playing field. During a visit to China in April, French President Emanuel Macron announced that France-headquartered Airbus landed huge deals in China, as the two countries vowed to “resume airlinks to pre-pandemic levels as quickly as possible.” However, reviving these air links could be a much simpler prospect for Chinese airlines than European. Like other passengers flying on European carriers to Asia, Macron did not take the quickest route between France and China – his plane avoided flying over Russia for both political and security reasons. But because Beijing and Moscow are still friends, direct, quicker routes remain open over Russian airspace, requiring less fuel and bringing better profits. “The closure of Russian airspace for European airlines has forced European carriers to take detours, involving more southern flight routes to East and Southeast Asia,” Laurent Donceel, managing director of Airlines for Europe (A4E) told CNN. “This has resulted in longer flight times and added to the fuel used on these flights.” <br/>