Russian airspace restrictions have “continued to be a big issue” preventing Hong Kong airport from returning to pre-Covid capacity, the authority overseeing the facility has said, amid preparations to launch a three-runway system as early as November.
Vivian Cheung Kar-fay, the Airport Authority’s acting CEO and chief operating officer, said on Monday the city’s new long-haul routes could not fly over Russian airspace, following Moscow’s decision to close off its skies to various Western nations in 2022.
“Russia’s airline routes have continued to be a big issue,” she said. “Even though local airlines can still use the airspace for old airline routes, new routes cannot fly over there.”
Western countries announced the closure of their respective airspaces to Russian aircraft following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Kremlin subsequently retaliated by restricting airlines from 36 countries in Europe and North America from flying over its skies.
While Asian states have generally avoided similar sanctions, airlines such as Korean Air, All Nippon Airways and Singapore Airlines have all voluntarily circumvented Russian airspace, with the changes adding up to three more hours to journey times.
Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways diverted flights from Russian airspace between March and November of 2022. It later announced plans to restore the routes to slash flight times and fuel costs.
Cathay’s initial diversions drastically inflated air ticket fares for many destinations, especially in North America.
Some analysts said many airlines in the West preferred to operate flights to high-demand locations rather than routes with longer flight times.
The Post found on Monday that a Cathay return ticket to New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport ranged between HK$16,700 (US$2,100) and more than HK$25,000.
A similar package between Hong Kong and Vancouver was priced at anywhere from HK$13,600 to HK$18,000.
Hong Kong is also preparing for the launch of its three-runway system this year, after completing a HK$141.5 billion expansion project that started in 2016.
The runway, which spans 3.8km (2.3 miles), came into service in 2022, while the second strip closed for maintenance. All three are expected to be operating simultaneously by as early as November.
The 650-hectare (1,606-acre) expansion project will gradually increase airport capacity by 50 per cent and is seen as key to the development of Hong Kong and southern mainland China.
The present terminal facilities at the airport are designed to handle up to 80 million passengers a year.
The airport handled 45.2 million passengers and 309,650 flights in 2023-24, respective increases of 264.5 and 92.1 per cent year on year.
But passenger numbers were only 74.2 per cent of the 2019-20 level, and flights stood at 82.2 per cent of the pre-Covid level.
