Prolonged Ukraine Crisis Disrupts Air and Maritime Routes (Comprehensive)

Korean Air and Asiana Suspend Flights to Russia
HMM Temporarily Halts Far East Route Bookings
Impact of Prolonged Russia-Ukraine Conflict

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] As Russia's invasion of Ukraine prolongs, air and maritime routes are being blocked. Korean Air and Asiana Airlines have decided to suspend flights on Russian routes, and HMM has also temporarily halted operations on Far East routes.

According to Korean Air on the 15th, considering concerns about local airport operations and safety due to the Ukraine situation, passenger flights on the Moscow and Vladivostok routes and cargo flights via Moscow on European routes will be temporarily suspended until the end of April.

Additionally, for routes departing from Europe and the eastern United States, alternative routes will be used. European routes include London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt, while eastern U.S. routes include New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, Boston, and Toronto. European routes will detour via China, Kazakhstan, and Turkey, and eastern U.S. routes will use alternative routes passing through the Alaska Pacific.

Korean Air expects flight times to increase by 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours 45 minutes one-way for European routes and by 1 hour to 1 hour 40 minutes for eastern U.S. routes due to the detours.

Previously, Korean Air had temporarily suspended passenger flights on the Moscow route, which operated once weekly on Thursdays, until the 18th due to fuel supply issues at Moscow Airport as of 1 a.m. on the 5th (local time 7 p.m. on the 4th). Cargo flights to Europe also operated without transiting Moscow until the 18th.

Asiana Airlines will also avoid transiting Moscow. Asiana operated cargo flights to Europe via Moscow seven times a week but does not operate Russian passenger routes. Like Korean Air, Asiana plans to use alternative routes avoiding Russian airspace for European and eastern U.S. flights. An Asiana Airlines official said, "The end date for using alternative routes is undecided. We will decide after monitoring the situation."

As Russia's invasion of Ukraine prolongs, not only air but also maritime routes have come to a halt. HMM, the largest container shipping company in Korea, has temporarily suspended operations on Far East routes heading to Russia. An HMM official said, "Due to a sharp drop in cargo volume caused by the Russia-Ukraine situation, operational difficulties have arisen, making it unavoidable to temporarily suspend bookings."

HMM stopped accepting reservations for services to Saint Petersburg on the 28th of last month. The suspended routes include Busan?Vostochny and Busan?Vladivostok. Until now, a 1,700 TEU (1 TEU equals one 20-foot container) class container ship from HMM was deployed on the Vostochny route. For the Vladivostok route, HMM used space on vessels operated by other companies of similar size.

The cargo capacity on Russian routes is minimal compared to HMM's total capacity, so the impact is expected to be minor. A company official explained, "This decision is unrelated to sanctions against Russia. We will monitor market conditions and work toward resuming services."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.