Japanese airlines JAL, ANA consider diverting routes around Russia
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TOKYO, March 2 (Reuters) – Japan Airlines Co Ltd (JAL) 9201.T and All Nippon Airways, a subsidiary of ANA Holdings Inc 9202.T, are considering routes that avoid Russia, following security concerns stemming from its invasion of Ukraine, the airlines said on Wednesday.
JAL will suspend weekly round-trips between Tokyo and Moscow again this week, it added. A spokesperson said the airline would suspend code-sharing on regular flights out of Europe, as its European partners had decided not to fly over Russia.
ANA has put on hold its plans for a flight service to Moscow due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Its president, Yuji Hirako, said that while a decision would be difficult now on whether to launch a service, the airline would face a challenge if it was deemed unprofitable.
Airlines have suspended flights in Russian airspace, while European nations, Canada and the United States have banned Russian aircraft from their airspace, in a bid to pressure President Vladimir Putin to end the Ukraine invasion.
(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Clarence Fernandez)
Photo – A Boeing 777 (top – bottom), 737-800, and 767 aircraft of Japanese carrier Japan Airlines (JAL) aircraft taxi at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan. EPA/CHRISTOPHER JUE
