Russia ban on U.K. flights sends British Airways off course

Russia banned U.K. airlines from its territory, a move meant to punish London for imposing sanctions on Aeroflot over the attack on Ukraine. 

The decree issued by Russia’s aviation watchdog on Friday includes overflights, meaning British Airways jets will have to avoid the country’s airspace on their way to Asia, adding time and fuel expense. BA canceled its sole service between London and Moscow, while Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. suspended a cargo-only route from London Heathrow to Shanghai. 

For now, there will be limited pain for BA, because Covid-19 restrictions in Asia mean there are few long-distance flights coming in. But Singapore and Japan are starting to ease those barriers, even if China and Hong Kong remain essentially closed. Aeroflot had recently been flying almost daily to London.

“The impact for us is not huge because right now we are only flying to a small number of destinations in Asia and we can reroute our flights,” Luis Gallego, BA parent IAG SA’s chief executive officer, said on an earnings call. 

Go-Around

A BA flight from New Delhi to London on Friday took almost an hour longer than the typical 9 hours, skirting Russian airspace to cut a more southerly path through the Black Sea and then on through Romania. Normally, the route would have been more direct, crossing Russia below Moscow, going through the Baltic states and on to the U.K.

British Airways has flights scheduled between the U.K. and Singapore, Bangkok, and Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan over the next two days that would normally go over Russia.

Virgin Atlantic said it decided not to fly over Russia on Thursday night, before the ban was announced. Affected destinations from the U.K. include New Delhi, Lahore and Islamabad. 

Passenger service to Hong Kong had been paused through mid-March because of Covid-19 restrictions, Virgin said.

European Plans

The escalation came as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered its second day, with intense fighting north of Kyiv. The U.S. and European Union have stepped up economic penalties, but haven’t gone as far as the U.K. with the flight ban. 

Russian airspace is a far bigger pathway for flights between Europe and Northeast Asia, suggesting a potential for a wider impact drawing in carriers such as Air France-KLM and Deutsche Lufthansa AG if the EU follows the U.K.’s lead. 

The idea hasn’t come up yet in official discussions and there are no current plans to ban Russian airlines, but nothing is completely off the table, an EU diplomat said, asking not to be named on confidential deliberations.

On Friday, Lufthansa services from Qingdao, China, and Seoul to Frankfurt were overflying Russia, while Air France, KLM and Finnair also had aircraft using Russian airspace.

Air France is maintaining flights to Moscow and St. Petersburg, and flying over Russia to reach other destinations, a spokesman said.