It was a record for the longest flight, but Cathay Pacific did not set it voluntarily: the airspace closures as a result of the war in Ukraine forced the airline to take a longer route for the flight to New York.
She flew an Airbus A350-1000 from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport across the Atlantic Ocean to avoid Russian airspace.
The Hong Kong airline dethroned Singapore Airlines, which held the record for flights from Singapore to New York since 2018. But now Cathay has decided to use Russian airspace again.
Strong headwinds and problems with the payload made this necessary. Since November 1, their planes have been flying over the Russian Far East again, following the so-called polar route to Hong Kong.
This has negative consequences for the partnership with American Airlines. The airline has had to give up its codesharing with Cathay Pacific on the route because of their use of Russian airspace.
The sanctions ban US airlines from using Russian airspace. And this also applies to codeshare flights, where one airline’s flight number is linked to another company’s flight.
This article was written by Laura Frommberg
Putin has recruited 300,000 new soldiers through his partial mobilization for the Ukraine war. Many of them are sent to the front without any training – with devastating consequences. Whole battalions are burned in trenches, reports a Russian recruit.
Around Mariupol, among other places, the Russian military is erecting new anti-tank barriers in preparation for Ukrainian breakthroughs. Previously, the troops had already established the so-called “Wagner Line”. Such locks simplify defense – but eat up resources elsewhere, according to a military expert.
Soldiers from a Russian naval brigade openly criticized their commanders on Telegram. Their actions resulted in the brigade losing 300 men in just four days. “They don’t care about anything except adorning themselves. They call people flesh,” the letter reads.
The original of this article “Airline has to fly over Russian airspace – and immediately feels the consequences” comes from aeroTelegraph.
