Since Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine in late February of 2022, the use of the country’s airspace has become an increasingly controversial matter. At present, reciprocal sanctions are preventing many Western nations from flying over Russia, just as Russian jets can’t overfly such countries. However, this doesn’t just impact routes to and from Russia itself, but, rather, also airports further afield.
Indeed, before the war, European carriers would frequently overfly Russia in order to benefit from direct routes to destinations in China. Now, however, reciprocal sanctions are forcing them to go the long way round. As a non-sanctioned nation, Chinese airlines can still overfly Russia, but recent research has found that such flights, like those from Amsterdam, give Russia tens of millions of Euros every year.
Each Flight Pays Russia Thousands In ATC Fees
Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) is one of Europe’s most important hub airports, and serves as the home base for Dutch flag carrier KLM. However, it is far from the only airline operating intercontinental flights from this huge facility. Indeed, data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, shows that China Eastern, China Southern, and Xiamen Airlines all also fly directly from Amsterdam to Chinese destinations.
This, research from BNR has revealed, results in around €8,000 ($9,400) being paid to Russia for every flight in air traffic control fees, with the annual contribution for such flights operated by Chinese carriers from Schiphol alone totaling around €18 million ($21.6 million). Most guests are likely unaware of these inadvertent financial contributions, with NL Times quoting aviation expert Floris de Haan as saying:
“If you’re strategically located, like Russia, airlines have little choice: fly over it or detour. People primarily choose based on price, frequency, convenience, and travel time. Not what an airline pays to the countries they fly over. They often don’t even know what countries they’re flying over.”
Lots Of Factors To Weigh Up
BNR adds that, in addition to the thousands of Euros of air traffic control fees per flight paid to Russia by Chinese airlines that overfly the country while linking European destinations with their home country, the world’s largest nation also charges royalties for airspace use. The specifics of these are unknown, but Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith has described overflying Russia as “extremely expensive.”
The situation puts passengers in a difficult position, since, as previously observed, cost often comes first when deciding which airline to fly with on a given route. Due to the inability to use Russian airspace, flights from Europe to Asia operated by Western carriers have become more expensive in recent years, due to airlines passing the costs of having to fly further onto their guests in the form of higher fares.
With this in mind, Chinese airlines often represent a cheaper alternative, not to mention the fact that the direct routing gives them a time advantage on the same route over their Western counterparts. From a sustainability perspective, there is also the bonus of the direct routes emitting less CO2. However, these are factors that guests have to weigh up against inadvertently pouring money into Russian coffers.
A Closer Look At Amsterdam’s Chinese Operators
As previously mentioned, three Chinese carriers operate direct, non-stop flights from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Of these, China Eastern Airlines has the most straightforward network, operating daily flights to Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) using 
Boeing 777-300ER widebody twinjets.
Meanwhile, China Southern favors the Airbus A350 for its services from Amsterdam. This October, it will fly the type from the Dutch capital to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN), with Beijing Daxing (PKX) seeing a similar frequency. However, the latter has no flights on October 27 and 30.
Xiamen Airlines rounds out this trio, flying directly from Amsterdam to its eponymous hub at Xiamen Gaoqi Airport (XMN) in the southeast of China. This October, it has scheduled 17 round trips (12 with the 787-8 and five with the 787-9) on this route, with the frequencies reducing as the month goes on.
