How airlines are plotting a new route to Asia

[reader]

From CNN

(CNN) — The closure of Russian airspace to some international carriers, including many in Europe, has forced airlines to seek alternate routes. For some flights, such as those linking Europe and Southeast Asia, that's especially problematic since Russia, the world's largest country, stands directly in between.

 

The problem is best illustrated by Finnair's flight from Helsinki to Tokyo. Before the invasion of Ukraine, planes from Finland's national carrier would take off and quickly veer into the airspace of neighboring Russia, crossing it for over 3,000 miles.

 

They would then enter China near its northern border with Mongolia, fly in its airspace for about 1,000 miles, before entering Russia again just north of Vladivostok.

 

 

In addition to the polar route, Finnair can also reach Japan by flying south of Russia -- over the Baltics, Poland, Slovak Republic, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan to China, Korea and then to Japan. It's longer, but if wind conditions are particularly favorable it can be used, resulting in a similar flight time.

 

Then, fuel consumption data, together with navigational fees, is used to estimate the cost for the flight.

"After that, we need to check what kind of terrain we are flying over. For example, to see if the elevation at any point of the route requires special planning, in case we lose an engine or pressurization -- something that is always considered when preparing a flight," Kohvakka says.

 

Once the new route is approved, the focus shifts to aircraft equipment and the associated processes and regulations.

 

Among them is one called ETOPS ("Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards"), which dates back to the 1950s, when aircraft engines were less dependable and more prone to failing. ETOPS is a certification provided to aircraft that determined how far a plane with only two engines could fly from the nearest airport, in case it needed an emergency landing due to engine failure. "We need to have a suitable airport where we can divert to within a certain time limit," says Kohvakka.

 

Continues at

 

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/north-pole-air-route/index.html

[thaiophilus]

That picture is misleading - the "new route" in red is the polar route via Alaska, not the "south of Russia" one described above. It's there to link to the discussion of how ETOPS relates to the long Atlantic segment. (For the geographically challenged, the white route runs roughly west-east 🙃)

[reader]

From Bloomberg News

Cathay Pacific plans world's longest flight

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. plans to reroute its New York-Hong Kong service to avoid Russian airspace, in what would be the world’s longest commercial passenger flight by distance.  

The airline plans to fly from John F. Kennedy International Airport over the Atlantic Ocean, the U.K., southern Europe and central Asia, according to a memo to Cathay flight staff seen by Bloomberg News. The distance of 16,618 kilometers (10,326 miles) would surpass Singapore Airlines Ltd.’s New York service, which takes about 17-and-a-half hours to cover 15,349 kilometers, FlightRadar24 data show. The Cathay new flight will take about 17 hours.

A spokeswoman for Cathay said Airbus SE’s A350-1000 is capable of operating the route, which would typically fly over the Arctic and through Russian airspace. Many Asian airlines are avoiding Russia due to the conflict in Ukraine.

 

 

 

[PeterRS]

On 3/29/2022 at 5:01 PM, reader said:

From Bloomberg News

Cathay Pacific plans world's longest flight

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. plans to reroute its New York-Hong Kong service to avoid Russian airspace, in what would be the world’s longest commercial passenger flight by distance.  

The airline plans to fly from John F. Kennedy International Airport over the Atlantic Ocean, the U.K., southern Europe and central Asia, according to a memo to Cathay flight staff seen by Bloomberg News. The distance of 16,618 kilometers (10,326 miles) would surpass Singapore Airlines Ltd.’s New York service, which takes about 17-and-a-half hours to cover 15,349 kilometers, FlightRadar24 data show. The Cathay new flight will take about 17 hours.

A spokeswoman for Cathay said Airbus SE’s A350-1000 is capable of operating the route, which would typically fly over the Arctic and through Russian airspace. Many Asian airlines are avoiding Russia due to the conflict in Ukraine.

Is this another April Fool joke? For at least 15 years pre-covid CX flew up to 5 flights a day to JFK. All were over the Pacific and came nowhere near Soviet airspace. SIA flew to Newark via Europe but its non-stop service was over the Pacific, I believe.

[reader]

Sorry, Peter, but it's no joke. There are two methods of measuring flights: distance and duration, and both can change in accordance with variable wind aloft at cruising altitudes and overflight practices imposed by either the carrier or individual countries. In the article, that originated with Bloomberg, considered current, planned and suspended flights.

Thanks for pointing out that CX regained the title by restarting it's JFK-HKG service but I believe that it's old route did indeed take advantage of the polar route when winds aloft were favorable. This was the same practice Singapore used on its JFK-SIN route (I've taken the flight four times and twice it took the polar routing and the other two times a Euro route).

So on any given day, the actual longest flight--by either measure--can be swapped around by conditions at the moment.

===================================

From AzioZone

Qatar Airways Expands 2x Daily Airbus A380 Flights To Bangkok

The A380 will shortly be used by Qatar Airways to fly to Bangkok, and it is currently available for booking. It comes after the Gulf airline announced that it will bring back four additional A380s, raising the total number of A380s to eight.  Bangkok’s return was a foregone conclusion, aided by Thailand’s removal of the PCR requirement. Bangkok will join A380 service to London Heathrow and Paris CDG (both of which were reinstated late last year), as well as Sydney, where the double-decker quadjet will begin service on June 1st.

[PeterRS]

Mea culpa. Cathay Pacific never flew over Europe for its pre vivid JFK flight and its trans-Pacific route was never a contender for the world's longest flight. Singapore's non-stop trans-Pacific flight to Newark was considerably longer. Also one of the CX to and ex-JFK flights stopped in Vancouver. I fail to understand how this flight could not be rerouted further north over Canada to shorten the distance. But then I am not an airline planner.

I note the plan  is only for the return sector from JFK to be routed over Europe due to the strong upper atmosphere winds. This will add 2,254 miles to the length of the previous trans-Pacific return. No doubt fares will reflect that!! But with covid rampant and Hong Kong's quarantine regulations still extremely stringent, I cannot see many taking that route.

[reader]

The fares are already being impacted by higher fuel prices and longer routes but it doesn't seem to be tamping down demand.

A random check for fares in June for JFK-BKK flights shows economy fares between $900 to $1500. Business class was in the $3600-$8500 range. However, more competitive promotional fares can be expected to pop up at any time.

Capacity is gradually increasing. Aside from Qatar's planned addition of two daily 380 flights between Doha and Bangkok, ANA and JAL are boosting service from Tokyo.  Singapore is running a 380 on its JFK-FRA-SIN route in addition to a non-stop JFK-SIN flight with additional connections to BKK.

From London Heathrow, economy comes in between $600-$700 and business, $1800-$3000.  Most come with excellent connecting times.

 

[PeterRS]

I was in Europe for 3 weeks in March. I had booked Qatar biz class about 4 months earlier at what I felt was a very good fare, although when you added on the extra charges for seat selections and use of the lounges, it certainly mounted up. All four of my flights were totally full, even biz class. Thinking I might return in June, the basic price has risen by 25%. I guess I am surprised it is not higher.