American airlines have asked Congress and the White House to ban foreign carriers flying to the United States from operating such flights through Russia. The New York Times writes about it.
Due to Moscow’s ban on US airlines flying over Russia, they were forced to reorganize their routes to Asia bypassing the territory of the Russian Federation – which led to an increase in flight times and fuel consumption.
At the same time, companies from China, India or the Middle East do not face such restrictions – which is why they can offer their customers much lower ticket prices.
Over the course of a year, American airlines lost market share estimated at $2 billion because of this.
According to the NYT, the US Department of Transportation has already prepared a draft order to ban Chinese airlines from flying to the United States through Russia.
In the US Senate, possible restrictions on Chinese air carriers flying over Russia, discussed back in February. Then no decisions were made.
Russia banned American and European carriers from flying in its airspace in response to the ban on Russian airlines from flying to Europe and the United States, introduced in the first days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In total, the Russian Federation closed the sky for aircraft from 36 countries.
