The Russian Federation appears to be feeling the effects financially of the airspace being closed to overflights by carriers originating from countries participating in the sanctions. You lose significant income as a result. Now those airlines that continue to fly over Russia are being asked to pay more.

Due to the fact that the Russian Federation is the largest country in the world, before the army invaded Ukraine, its airspace was used by many airlines, especially on long-haul flights. That changed within a few days, because in response to the fact that the US, EU, UK and Canada, for example, banned Russian carriers, Russia also banned those from so-called “unfriendly countries”.

This is quite complicated for the industry, because long detours sometimes have to be flown, especially in Europe-Asia traffic. Russia feels the ban that it has imposed itself, but in the treasury. The income from overflights has fallen drastically, so that countermeasures are now being taken and those carriers that still fly or are allowed to fly over Russia are being asked to pay 20 percent more.

According to reports, Chinese airlines could be particularly badly affected, as they use the airspace of the Russian Federation particularly frequently. But also Gulf carriers such as Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways as well as Air India, Turkish Airlines and Ethiopian Cargo should soon feel the price increase significantly.

However, this will not be enough to compensate for the loss of income. Before the corona pandemic, airlines paid around 1,7 billion US dollars a year to use Russian airspace. Regardless of the fact that carriers from "friendly countries" can and do continue to use it, the 20 percent price increase is more of a drop in the bucket. Sometimes one or the other company considers taking other flight routes if possible.