Japan Airlines and ANA Cancel All European Flights

The consequences of Russia's invasion are spreading. This will be a huge blow for Japan's tourism industry.

Matthew is the son of Matthew.

All flights to and from Europe will be canceled on Thursday due to safety concerns following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The airlines that normally use Russian airspace for their Europe flights are among a growing number of carriers that have canceled or diverted flights between Europe and north Asia in the wake of the crisis.

JAL has decided to cancel flights because of the situation in Ukraine and other risks.

The suspension of flights was due to the high possibility of ANA not being able to overfly Russia due to the situation in Ukraine.

The European Union and Canada have banned airlines from Russian airspace due to curbs on Russian airlines.

According to a flight tracking website, ANA and JAL operate about 60 flights per week through Russian airspace between Tokyo and London.

Finnair said on Wednesday that it would resume four weekly Tokyo flights with a new route and a flight time of 13 hours, up from 9 hours previously.

Longer routes by airlines will add to fuel costs and lower the amount of cargo that can be carried in a tight market for air freight that is compounding issues related to the Pandemic.

Taiwanese carriers are avoiding Russian airspace and are flying over China and central Asia, despite Korean Air Lines still flying over Russian airspace.

The ANA canceled eight flights to and from London, Paris and Frankfurt on Friday.

All cargo flights will operate, it said, adding that a flight due to carry vaccines on the return leg will be routed over central Asia.

Additional reporting by Jamie Freed in Australia and Chang-ran Kim in Tokyo are included.

The article was written by Jamie Freed and was licensed through the Industry Dive Content Marketplace. All licensing questions should be directed to legal@industrydive.com.