Flying over Russia
Author
Discussion

XJ75

Original Poster:

499 posts

170 months

Monday 14th September
quotequote all
Supposed to be flying to China in 5 weeks, it's with Air China LHR-PEK and a large chunk of the route is over Russia. Should we be concerned? It's non-refundable so would have to give up a chunk of money, but it beats being blown out of the sky.

Newc

2,195 posts

212 months

Monday 14th September
quotequote all
Well, two answers really:

1. Are you likely to be deliberately lit up by Russian air defence? No. Chinese aircraft still have full overflight rights in Russian airspace, because Vlad is acutely aware of who's buying his oil and selling him his microchips.

2. Are you likely to be accidentally lit up by Russian air defence? Well, they have got form in this area, but they don't seem to have that much air defence left, so probably not.

Overall, you'll be fine.

WH16

8,510 posts

248 months

Monday 14th September
quotequote all
Plenty of flights over Russia daily. No reason to be concerned IMHO.

If you flying over Ukraine on the other hand...

https://www.flightradar24.com/51.22,28.09/4

48k

17,540 posts

178 months

Monday 14th September
quotequote all
Google says the danger zone is west of the 60th meridian and the LHR-PEK route is mostly east of that line. The chances of being blown out of the sky are very very very small. The bigger risk is probably an aircraft issue leading to a diversion in to Russia and then having to deal with onward travel but even the risk of that is very very small.

What's your appetite for risk? biggrin

LotusOmega375D

9,397 posts

183 months

Monday 14th September
quotequote all
Don’t work for that Wagner Group do you?

dr_gn

16,977 posts

214 months

Tuesday 15th September
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My son just landed at Gatwick after flying home from Tokyo via Shanghai. He’s only 19 and has been in Japan for two weeks solo travelling, so I was tracking him on Flight Radar. Outbound I was shocked to say the least to see him over Russia. Last night I knew it would be the reverse route; I’ll admit some nerves. The Ukrainian announcement during his holiday that Russian airspace could not be considered safe didn’t help, although digging deeper I think they said it was mainly regarding airports. As others said, I think the actual risks are tiny, but given the choice personally I’d avoid it. Even getting diverted to a Russian airport due to a technical issue would certainly not be my idea of a relaxing trip.

He’d booked China Eastern due to cost. Obviously it all went fine - and there are dozens of Chinese airline flights on that route every day. However if he was doing it now - and I’d have realised the route - I’d have paid the difference for him to use a different airline. But that’s just me.

GiantEnemyCrab

8,006 posts

233 months

Tuesday 15th September
quotequote all
dr_gn said:
My son just landed at Gatwick after flying home from Tokyo via Shanghai. He s only 19 and has been in Japan for two weeks solo travelling, so I was tracking him on Flight Radar. Outbound I was shocked to say the least to see him over Russia. Last night I knew it would be the reverse route; I ll admit some nerves. The Ukrainian announcement during his holiday that Russian airspace could not be considered safe didn t help, although digging deeper I think they said it was mainly regarding airports. As others said, I think the actual risks are tiny, but given the choice personally I d avoid it. Even getting diverted to a Russian airport due to a technical issue would certainly not be my idea of a relaxing trip.

He d booked China Eastern due to cost. Obviously it all went fine - and there are dozens of Chinese airline flights on that route every day. However if he was doing it now - and I d have realised the route - I d have paid the difference for him to use a different airline. But that s just me.
God help you when there is some real adversity laugh

dr_gn

16,977 posts

214 months

Tuesday 15th September
quotequote all
GiantEnemyCrab said:
dr_gn said:
My son just landed at Gatwick after flying home from Tokyo via Shanghai. He s only 19 and has been in Japan for two weeks solo travelling, so I was tracking him on Flight Radar. Outbound I was shocked to say the least to see him over Russia. Last night I knew it would be the reverse route; I ll admit some nerves. The Ukrainian announcement during his holiday that Russian airspace could not be considered safe didn t help, although digging deeper I think they said it was mainly regarding airports. As others said, I think the actual risks are tiny, but given the choice personally I d avoid it. Even getting diverted to a Russian airport due to a technical issue would certainly not be my idea of a relaxing trip.

He d booked China Eastern due to cost. Obviously it all went fine - and there are dozens of Chinese airline flights on that route every day. However if he was doing it now - and I d have realised the route - I d have paid the difference for him to use a different airline. But that s just me.
God help you when there is some real adversity laugh
It was a worry - I like to avoid worry, simple as that.

Jordan247

6,441 posts

238 months

Tuesday 15th September
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Might just be me but as a UK passport holder, I prefer to avoid routes through Russian airspace due to the potential risks involved if the flight has to divert to a Russian airport.


Herer

17 posts

216 months

Tuesday 15th September
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I flew LHR>PEK on Air China a couple of months ago, and it was completely fine. I would fly that airline and route again

XJ75

Original Poster:

499 posts

170 months

Wednesday 30th September
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Decided to cancel the flights in the end. Was ready to give up £3.5k, then Air China brought the return flight forwards by 20 minutes. Because this was over 15 minutes, it triggered something in their Ts and Cs that allowed us to cancel for a full refund with no charges. Result!