The situation in Ukraine is constantly evolving and United has now pulled flights from Russian airspace. Please check out our home page for the latest developments.
United Airlines has shrugged off international condemnation for its decision to continue actively using Russian airspace despite President Vladimir Putin’s increasingly desperate invasion of Ukraine and the unfolding humanitarian disaster.
The Chicago-based airline regularly flies through Russian airspace to connect the United States with India. From Newark, the carrier flies non-stop to Mumbai and Delhi and from San Francisco, United operates a daily service to Delhi.
On Monday, United Airlines flight UA867 departed San Francisco with a flight plan filed that will see the roughly one-year-old Boeing 787 Dreamliner fly straight through Russian airspace in order to reach India.
The advantage of flying a northerly route that requires intersecting Russia is that the total distance and flight time is a lot less than taking a more southerly route through Europe and the Middle East.
But by taking the northerly route, United is required to pay Russia for the privilege of using its airspace. Critics have slammed United for what they claim is a business practice that is helping to fund Putin’s war in Europe.
United is now the only U.S. airline to operate flights via Russian airspace after both American Airlines and Delta switched flight plans to a more southerly route on February 24. United appears to have followed suit on its Newark services but not from San Francisco.
A spokesperson for the carrier said it was “in frequent communication with the federal government on the issue,” but the airline refused to commit to withdrawing its planes from Russian skies.
Last week, Delta Air withdrew its codeshare agreement with Russian flag carrier Aeroflot, while American Airlines has now suspended its interline agreement with Aeroflot and the private Russian carrier S7.
Unlike its northern neighbours and much of Europe, the United States has not banned Russian jets from its skies and in return, U.S. planes are still legally allowed to use Russian airspace.
Despite its home country not imposing airspace restrictions on Russian jets, Singapore Air has decided not to overly Russia for the time being, while carriers from the Persian Gulf and Asia continue to actively use Russian airspace.
Emirates boss Sir Tim Clark revealed on Sunday that the Dubai-based airline was preparing to reroute flights through Europe should the situation further deteriorate.
typical Americans! expecting from its Allies to sacrifice more but they would not ban Russian aircraft in their airspace and still fly in Russian airspace. Money is more important than principles and moral. Do not worry, the Russians will get to you too, more sooner than later.
United is no longer flying through Russian airspace to India. This has driven the suspension of SFO-DEL, ORD-DEL and EWR-BOM
yes, idiot… get your facts correct.
You do realize an article is a snapshot in time and that you are reading an article from March 1? Please see this story for the latest developments.
United Airlines will no longer use Russian airspace for its flights to India, and is temporarily suspending two routes as a result.
United Airlines otherwise DOES NOT use Russian airspace.
https://thepointsguy.com/news/united-airlines-russian-airspace/
I refer you to both the infobox at the very top of this article and this article here
Thank you – I do see the infobox you mention.
(Yes, I realise United are now no longer tracking through Russian airspace … but for the record) … moving the JFK – BOM direct (great circle) track a little South to avoid Russian airspace (say, via overhead LHR) adds a mere 225km to the total distance … about 15 minutes flying time or plus 1.792%. Support Western perception or help fund the Russian war machine? Not a difficult choice I would have thought. Public perception is valuable. Me? I’ll never use United … as a direct result of their ‘wrong’ moral decision (to be 100% fair, I probably would never HAVE TO use United from the country I live in and having been involved in commercial aviation for much of my life had long ago come to the conclusion, based on public reviews, that United would only ever be my carrier of ‘ last resort’).
In a month or two after Russia is finished conquering Ukraine, everybody will privately open up airspace, and remove sanctions. Russia did what they did, just like the US does what it does, and there will be only talk, and sternly worded letters, no real action.