Two routes to India have been suspended. Finnair has stopped serving Asia. London and Paris have been suspended by All Nippon Airways.
The need for airlines to avoid Russian airspace won't have a major impact on commercial flying in the U.S., according to analysts.
John Grant is a senior analyst for the air travel data provider OAG.
The U.K., EU nations and Canada are among the countries whose airspace has been blocked by Russia. The airlines of many countries not included in the 36 nations are avoiding Russian airspace out of caution.
Steering clear of that skyway will affect many Europe-Asia routes, but it will only be a major hurdle on U.S. flights to a few destinations, most notably India, according to analysts. Due to Covid-related restrictions, flights from the U.S. to several of the other markets for which flight plans would be most impacted, such as mainland China, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul, South Korea, are still suspended entirely.
John Cox, a retired US Airways captain who is now an aviation industry consultant, mentioned Chicago-Shanghai as the type of route that would have required flight path adjustments to avoid Russian airspace. The route was flown by United and China Eastern before Covid. There is currently no nonstop U.S.-Hong Kong service, though six airlines operated in that market three years ago, serving a total of eight U.S. cities.
The absence of Russian airspace as a flight path option is already having some consequences for flyers and airlines.
United has suspended flights between San Francisco and Delhi and between Newark and Mumbai due to the challenges of operating those routes without overflying Russia. The carrier has altered flight paths on two other India routes.
The flight between Newark and Delhi is now operating on a nearly straight line south of Russia and across Saudi Arabia, instead of its usual polar flight path. Air India continues to fly through Russian airspace, so the Newark-Delhi flight is taking 30 minutes longer.
Airlines are altering routes on some East Asia-U.S. routes. Korean Airlines has changed its flight path to avoid Russia.
With jet fuel prices at their highest since 2014, modest changes in flight plans could still have a marked impact on airline operating costs. The impact of higher fuel costs will be insignificant among some European carriers, according to the CEO of the Lufthansa Group.
Not all airlines are easy to get along with. Finnair will need to lay off at least 90 pilots and 150 cabin crew due to its suspension of flights to Russia. Osaka, Japan, and Hong Kong service has been suspended and flight path changes have been made to serve other Asia routes.
All Nippon didn't fly Tokyo-London or Tokyo-Paris last week and will keep those suspensions through at least March 15.
Cox said that international travelers from the U.S. are not likely to experience major connection difficulties.
He said that if you are flying KLM, Lufthansa, British Airways, Iberia, Air France, you are not going to see a lot of impact.
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