Cathay Pacific voluntarily avoided Russian airspace after Russia invaded Ukraine. In winter, the airline is now resorting to a shortcut again.
Russia's sky is open to Cathay Pacific. The Hong Kong airline is not affected by airspace closures, but has voluntarily refrained from overflights since March 2022. According to this, the airline will again use the “polar route” on the New York – Hong Kong line in winter, which cuts through Russian airspace in the east. Because of “strong headwinds”, Cathay Pacific wants to avoid detours on the route, as reported by the German aviation portal Aero, citing Bloomberg. Cathay Pacific welcomed just under 2022 passengers on board its aircraft in September 266.000, compared to around 2019 million passengers in the same month of 3 before the CoV crisis.