The war in Ukraine has been going on for more than a year, and it has effects on the world of aviation in general, and on flights to Israel in particular. This year our plane ticket prices are higher than before, also because of the impact of that war.
Rashi writes about the first verse in the chapter ‘Vishev’: “Jacob asked to sit in peace, Yosef’s anger jumped on him”. This is also what is happening to the airlines today. The world of aviation is trying to recover from the Corona crisis, and now has to deal with a new crisis and problems created by the war in Ukraine.
The main flight routes from Western Europe to Asia and the Far East pass over the airspace of Russia, Ukraine and Moldova. Because of America and Europe’s sanctions policy on Russia, their airlines stopped flying over Russia. EU aviation authorities are banning flights over Ukraine because of the fighting there. Bypassing the airspaces of Russia and Ukraine lengthens the road and fuel consumption. For example, El Al’s flights to Moscow were extended by about two hours due to the ban on flying over Ukraine and the need to bypass it. We used to fly to Moscow in about 4 hours, and today the flight lasts about 6 hours. Air Baltic’s route from Riga to Israel was also extended due to such a detour.
Today El Al operates a daily flight to Moscow. Before the outbreak of the war, El Al also operated two weekly flights to Kiev, and a month before the Russian invasion, El Al even increased the frequency of flights to allow the Jews to escape. But the Ukrainian Jews were indifferent and the planes were not filled as expected. When the Russians invaded, the Jews wanted to escape but it was already too late. EU aviation authorities have banned airlines from flying over the battle zone, and El Al has also stopped operating the route. But not Alman Israel, and the El Al company operated rescue flights from airports in Romania, to which the Jewish refugees from Ukraine were brought.
The war in Ukraine did to European airlines the opposite of what happened with us in the Abraham Accords, when Saudi Arabia allowed Israeli companies to fly over its territory. For us, it shortened the flights to Dubai and the Far East, and also lowered the prices of plane tickets. In contrast, for European airlines flying to the Far East, such as British Airways, Russia’s detours extend the flight time by 15 percent, and for Scandinavian companies such as Finnair, it extends even up to 40 percent.
Of course, this increases fuel consumption and maintenance costs and aircrew wages. Fortunately for us, in the meantime the jet fuels did not increase too much, thanks to the fact that the price of jet fuel dropped by 43%, after the peak that was due to the global shortage caused by the war. But in any case the prices of plane tickets have become more expensive on these lines. Of course, this also affects Israelis who fly to China and East Asia on connecting flights of European airlines.
For Chinese airlines it doesn’t matter, because China is not a partner in the sanctions on Russia, and flies over it. This creates an unfair competition between Chinese companies and European companies, as we had between El Al and Air India. For example, Air France and Air China operate wide-body planes from Paris to Shanghai. On Air France’s route that bypasses Russia, a 777 consumes an additional 6,000 liters of fuel, which costs about $16,000, compared to Air China’s direct route. This increase is also reflected in increases in airline ticket prices.
Moreover, the pilots are allowed to work up to 8 hours continuously, and rest at least 10 hours before the next flight. On flights up to 8 hours, one air crew is placed. But when a flight to the same destination is extended to 9-10 hours, two crews must be put on the plane. This both increases expenses, and reduces revenue because the other crew is taking seats that would have been available to sell to passengers.
The war also had a severe impact on the field of slot machines. A slot is a “time window” in which a plane is allowed to land at a certain airport and take off from it. There are busy and overcrowded airports, such as Natabh, which cannot allow landings and takeoffs at a time that suits each airline. So that there are no traffic jams on the takeoff and landing routes and the gliding and climbing routes in the air, and so that the sleeves in the terminal are used efficiently, the aviation authorities allocate a “slot” of time for each takeoff and each landing. In the evening, there are pre-determined slots for many years.
The slots were greatly affected by the corona crisis, and when the aviation world began to recover and the airlines were able to return to their previous slots, the war in Ukraine broke out and played the cards again. The most serious problem is with the airlines that cancel flights that pass over Russia. As is customary in the aviation world, unused slots are forfeited, and other airlines can purchase them. The story is known about the British Airways company that, during the Corona crisis, operated an empty plane every day on its most important route, just so as not to lose the slot.
The new routes that bypass Russia extend the duration of the flights, and therefore do not allow maintaining the schedule of the slots. When we compare the flight schedule of 2019 with the schedule of 2023, we see that planes that take off from any international airport at the same times as before, land at their destination only two or even three hours later than the landings before the outbreak of the war.
In the previous summer it was tolerable and there were possibilities to be flexible in the slots, because the aviation world only operated at 70% of the capacity before the corona, but this summer the capacity is greater, and so are the disruptions. That’s why the airlines ask to change the slots, sign them later or start them earlier, or both.
Moreover, there are airports abroad that are closed at night to maintain the quality of life and sleep of the residents living near the airport. A flight that before the war landed before midnight, now arrives at its destination after the airport is closed and is not allowed to land. The airlines are forced to land at alternate airports, or change their schedule and take off earlier. The problem is that the aircraft fleet is too limited to withstand these many changes.
By the way, even in Israel it is forbidden to take off and land between one in the morning and five in the morning, but from personal experience I know that we do not follow this and there is a lot of airplane noise at night.
Japan is not officially embargoing Russia’s airspace, but Japanese airlines have another problem. The Japanese government participates in the economic sanctions on Russia, and freezes the transfer of funds and debts to Russia. A Japanese plane flying to Europe on a route over Russia may need to make an emergency landing at a Russian airport. Apparently, after landing, he will not receive fuel and ground services, and maybe the Russians will even confiscate the plane. So the Japanese don’t fly over Russia either.
Airlines recently announced that they are “back to normal” after the Corona crisis. Most of them are full chazal, and some of them are partial chazal. But until the Ukraine war ends and Russian airspace is reopened, the entire aviation industry is still far from returning to normal as it was in 2019. And each of us is paying the price.
