Airspace Closures
Russia’s Airspace Closure
Status: Closed to airlines from the EU, UK, US, Canada and 30+ other countries since 2022. In force as of October 2026. Airspace rules change at short notice. Always check with your airline before travelling.
Look at a globe instead of a flat map and you’ll see why Russia matters so much to air travel. It’s the biggest country on earth, stretching across eleven time zones, and the shortest routes between Europe and East Asia run straight across it. For decades, a flight from London, Frankfurt or Helsinki to Tokyo, Seoul or Beijing crossed Siberia.
Since 2022, that shortcut has been closed to most Western airlines. Russia closed its airspace to airlines from the EU, the UK, the US, Canada and others, and those countries closed theirs to Russian airlines. The bans are still in force, and they’ve quietly redrawn the world’s air routes.
Who is affected
Airlines from more than 35 countries and territories can’t fly over Russia, including every EU member, the UK, the US, Canada, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland. Japan’s major airlines, JAL and ANA, also reroute around it. When the closure began in early 2022, they briefly cancelled most European flights before adopting new routes that added up to three or four hours. Airlines reported operating costs on those routes rising by 10–15%.
In the other direction, Russian airlines can’t fly into or over Europe or North America.
Finnair: the airline hit hardest
No airline depended on the Russian shortcut more than Finnair. Its entire strategy was built on Helsinki’s position: on a globe, Finland sits right on the shortest path between Europe and Northeast Asia. Before 2022, Helsinki to Tokyo took around nine hours, among the fastest Europe–Japan connections.
Without Russia, Finnair flies north instead. Its Tokyo flights now head up over Finnish Lapland, past Norway’s far north, across the Barents Sea and Svalbard, over the North Pole towards Alaska, and then down across the Pacific to Japan. The journey now takes about 13 hours, covers roughly 3,000 more miles and burns about 40% more fuel.
Figures
Helsinki–Tokyo: flight time before and after (hours)
Finnair’s detour adds about 3,000 miles and uses roughly 40% more fuel.
Source: Finnair; Flightradar24; The Barents Observer
How everyone else reroutes
Most European airlines now go south and east instead. A flight from London, Paris or Frankfurt to East Asia typically heads southeast towards Turkey, then crosses the Caspian Sea region and Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan) before continuing to China, Korea or Japan. These southern detours typically add one to four hours, depending on the route.
That traffic has to squeeze through a few narrow corridors, especially when other airspace in the region is also closed. We look at those pinch points in the new Europe–Asia corridors.
The real numbers
The closure in numbers
35+
Countries affected
Airlines barred from Russian airspace
1–4 hrs
Longer flights
Typical Europe–Northeast Asia penalty
9 → 13 h
Helsinki–Tokyo
Finnair’s flight time
~40%
More fuel
On Finnair’s polar route
Winners as well as losers
Airlines that can still fly over Russia, including the big Chinese carriers, Turkish Airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Air India, now have a built-in time and fuel advantage on many Europe–Asia journeys. Some routes have shifted toward these airlines and their hubs as a result. For passengers, it’s worth comparing total journey times, not just fares: a connection through Istanbul or a Gulf hub can sometimes beat a European airline’s longer nonstop detour.
Sources & Further Reading
- Russian airspace ban: airlines, routes & 2026 impact — The Flying Engineer ↗
- Finnair takes North Pole detour when avoiding Russia — The Barents Observer ↗
- Race to Tokyo: JAL and Finnair’s separate paths from Helsinki — Flightradar24 ↗
- Japanese airlines working hard to keep European corridors open — CAPA ↗
- How modern airspace closures reshuffled global aviation — Simple Flying ↗
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Which airlines can’t fly over Russia?
Airlines from more than 35 countries and territories, including all EU members, the UK, the US, Canada, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland. Japan’s major airlines also avoid Russian airspace.
Which airlines still fly over Russia?
Airlines from countries not affected by the bans, including the major Chinese carriers, Turkish Airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Air India. That gives them shorter routes between Europe and Asia.
How much longer are flights?
European flights to Northeast Asia typically take 1–4 hours longer. Finnair’s Helsinki–Tokyo flight went from about 9 hours to about 13.
Can Russian airlines fly to Europe or North America?
No. Under the reciprocal bans, Russian airlines can’t use European, UK, US or Canadian airspace.
Does this affect ticket prices?
Longer flights burn more fuel and need more crew time, which raises airlines’ costs. On some routes that has meant higher fares or fewer flights, and it has helped airlines that can still use the shorter routes compete.