Airlines cancel, reroute flights during Chinese military drills near Taiwan

EVA Airways

05/08/2022 02:07

By Joyce Lee and Jamie Freed
    SEOUL, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Some airlines have cancelled
flights to Taipei and rerouted others using nearby airspace that
has been closed to civilian traffic during Chinese military
exercises sparked by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy
Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.
    China deployed scores of planes and fired live missiles near
Taiwan on Thursday in its biggest-ever drills in the Taiwan
Strait, set to run until noon local time (0400 GMT) on Sunday in
six zones encircling much of the island.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2ZG03C
    The airspace involved is comparatively small, but the
disruption is hampering travel between Southeast Asia and
Northeast Asia.
    Korean Air Lines Co Ltd  003490.KS  said it had cancelled
flights between Seoul and Taipei on Friday and Saturday, and
would delay a flight on Sunday due to the exercises. 
    Singapore Airlines Ltd  SIAL.SI  said it had cancelled its
Friday flights between Singapore and Taipei due to "evolving
airspace restrictions" and would continue to monitor the
situation in case more adjustments were needed.
    Japan's ANA Holdings Inc  9202.T  and Japan Airlines Co Ltd
 9201.T  are still operating flights to Taipei as normal,
spokespeople for the airlines said, but are avoiding the
affected airspace on those flights, as well as on routes to Hong
Kong and Southeast Asia.
    Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd  0293.HK  said on
Thursday its flights were avoiding designated airspace zones
around Taiwan, in a move that could lead to more flying time for
some flights.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nP8N2Z7007
    Flight tracking service FlightRadar24 showed Taiwanese
carriers China Airlines Ltd  2610.TW  and EVA Airways Corp
 2618.TW  were still flying to and from the island as of Friday
morning, as was Philippine Airlines and cargo carriers FedEx
Corp  FDX.N  and United Parcel Service Inc  UPS.N , though
avoiding the areas affected by the military drills. 
    Emirates was still scheduled to fly to Taipei on Friday,
according to its website.
    Taiwan, along with mainland China and Hong Kong, is one of
the few places in the world that still requires quarantine for
arrivals because of COVID-19, triggering reduced demand for
travel to the island that means there are far fewer flights than
before the pandemic.
    OPSGROUP, an aviation industry cooperative that shares
information on flight risks, said the Chinese military exercises
would affect major routes between Southeast Asia and Northeast
Asia, leading to re-routings that could take longer and burn
extra fuel.
    The airspace involved, however, is minor in its impact on
the global aviation industry compared to the decision by most
airlines to bypass overflight of other places like Russia,
Ukraine, Afghanistan, North Korea, Iraq and Syria.
    The avoidance of Russian airspace, for example, has led to a
near four-hour increase in flight times between Finland and
Japan.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2V607R
    Taiwan said on Wednesday it was negotiating with
neighbouring Japan and the Philippines to find alternative
aviation routes, the official Central News Agency (CNA)
reported.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nB9N2YU04H

 (Reporting by Joyce Lee in Seoul and Jamie Freed in Sydney;
Additional reporting by Maki Shiraki in Tokyo and Twinnie Siu in
Hong Kong; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
 ((Jamie.Freed@thomsonreuters.com;))