Finnair has announced plans to continue its flights from Helsinki to Shanghai and Seoul despite the closure of Russian airspace to EU-based airlines.
Russia banned carriers from 36 countries, including all 27 EU nations, from using its airspace last month as a response to the EU’s decision to ban Russian airlines following the invasion of Ukraine.
Finnair said that a strong cargo market would allow it to continue re-routed flights to both Shanghai and Seoul. Although services to Osaka and Hong Kong have been cancelled until the end of April, with Finnair saying it “remains committed” to these destinations.
Flights to Shanghai will operate once per week on Thursday from 10 March, and three times per week to Seoul on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 12 March.
The re-routed services will have longer flight times of between 12 and 14 hours. Finnair said both outbound flights would avoid Russian airspace from the south, with the return Seoul-Helsinki leg also able to take the “northern route”.
Ole Orver, chief commercial officer at Finnair, said: “We strive to offer our customers connections between Europe and Asia to the extent it is possible in this challenging situation.
“We understand how frustrating the situation is for our customers and are very sorry about the inconvenience and trouble the flight changes are causing them.”
Finnair had already announced plans to continue flying to Tokyo from Wednesday (9 March), with four weekly services avoiding Russian airspace, as well as operating services to Bangkok, Delhi, Phuket, and Singapore.