The United States is planning on banning Chinese airlines from using Russian airspace on all flights to and from the United States, though as you might expect, there’s some pushback…
US DOT wants to add airspace restrictions on Chinese airlines
Since early 2022, Russian airspace has been closed to aircraft registered in the United States, and vice versa. This is of course related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has had much wider implications, in terms of sanctions. These airspace closures have posed a challenge for many airlines, given the size of Russia, and the importance of its airspace for reaching some points in Asia.
In many cases, airlines from countries aligned with Russia have had a very nice competitive advantage, as they’ve been able to use Russian airspace on flights to the United States, Europe, etc., while other airlines haven’t been able to.
That’s something that the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) is looking to change, though. The DOT has proposed a new condition on the foreign air carrier permits held by the six Chinese airlines that fly to the United States, prohibiting them from using Russian airspace on flights to and from the United States.
The DOT is proposing that this take effect 30 days after the issuance of a final order in this matter. The DOT gave parties two business days to file comments on the tentative decision (not exactly a long commenting period!).
The DOT justifies this by referencing the air services agreement that exists between the United States and China. Article 2(4) of the agreement explicitly stipulates that “the operation of the agreed services by the designated airline(s) on routes over third countries shall be conducted on routes available to the airlines of both Parties, unless otherwise agreed.” So of course the United States is within its rights to add these restrictions.
As you’d expect, Chinese airlines have come out against these changes, arguing that the proposed ban would “harm the public interest” and “inconvenience travelers” from both China and the United States. The airlines also argue that the added flight time would result in higher costs and more expensive tickets, increasing the burden on all travelers.
My take on this potential Russia airspace ban on US flights
I think the DOT’s proposal is fair enough, and that it wouldn’t be unreasonable for this to be implemented:
- I can understand the concept of how unfair the current policy is, and how US airlines are at a disadvantage by not being able to use Russian airspace
- Russia has very high overflight costs, so by using Russia airspace, it’s helping to fund Russia’s attack on Ukraine
- There’s the general question of potential safety issues if a flight were to divert to Russia (then again, it has happened multiple times on Air India, without incident)
At the same time, this isn’t something I’m overly enthusiastic about:
- This seems more about a trade war with China than about punishing Russia, because notice how this order is only about airlines in mainland China, and not about Air India, Cathay Pacific, etc.
- The practical implications here would actually be fairly limited, given that some routes from Chinese airlines are either already banned from using Russian airspace, or choose not to use it
- I don’t love the whole “airlines need to have a level playing field” concept, because that’s never going to be the case; it’s also not “fair” how US airlines can essentially operate their flights at a loss while still making money, thanks to their lucrative credit card agreements, which airlines in no other countries have access to in the same way
So yeah, I’m not opposed to this, and I’d be more in favor of this if it were a blanket ban, rather than only targeted at Chinese airlines (which makes it more about China than Russia). However, I have a hard time getting too enthusiastic about a “yay, an extra three hours of flying just to punish China” policy.
Bottom line
The United States plans to add new restrictions on Chinese airlines, whereby they can no longer use Russian airspace for any flights to or from the United States. I have to imagine that this will be implemented, and is part of the overall escalating tensions between the United States and China.
The policy change is reasonable, in line with the air services agreement between the two countries. However, it definitely seems to be more about punishing China than about punishing Russia, given the airlines for which these restrictions are being proposed.
What do you make of new restrictions on Chinese airlines using Russian airspace?
