Recently, CEO Turkka Kuusisto of Finnair said that Chinese airlines have been granted continued access to fly over Russian airspace, giving them a significant advantage in terms of shorter flight paths and lower costs along the Eurasian air routes. This creates an “extremely unfair” competitive environment for Western airlines that are unable to use Russian airspace.
According to Reuters, Kuusisto stated in an interview at Finnair’s New York office on Wednesday (September 9) that Chinese airlines are increasing capacities between Europe and China, while Western airlines like Finnair are forced to detour due to Russia’s flight ban.
Using the Shanghai to Helsinki route as an example, Kuusisto pointed out that when Russian airspace was open, the flight time was approximately 8 hours, but now it takes over 12 hours due to detours.
“In my opinion, this is an extremely unfair and unequal competitive environment,” Kuusisto said.
Finnair has traditionally relied on its strategic geographical location near Asia in Helsinki to transport passengers between Europe and Asian cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Tokyo.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, most Western airlines, including Finnair, were banned from using Russian airspace. However, Chinese airlines are still allowed to use Russian airspace, leading to significant differences in time and fuel costs along the China-Europe routes.
This is not the first time the European aviation industry has raised concerns.
In October 2024, Marjan Rintel, CEO of Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM), publicly urged the EU to address the unfair competition caused by Chinese airlines flying over Russian airspace. She pointed out that detouring around Russia increases flight distances and costs for European carriers.
That same month, Carsten Spohr, CEO of Lufthansa, also called on the EU to require all airlines flying to Europe to avoid Russian airspace in order to establish a fair competitive environment.
This dispute has also extended to the United States. American airlines, including United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and American Airlines, have started paying attention to the competitive gap created by Chinese airlines using Russian airspace.
In October 2025, the U.S. government officially proposed banning Chinese airlines from flying over Russian airspace on flights to and from the United States to narrow the competitive gap between American and Chinese airlines.
Currently, Finnair faces competition from Gulf airlines. Emirates is set to operate daily flights from Dubai to Helsinki.
Last month, Finnair canceled winter flights to Doha and Dubai due to security concerns arising from conflicts in the Middle East, with these routes accounting for about 3% of the company’s capacity and passenger traffic.
Kuusisto stated that if tensions in the Middle East ease and a lasting peace is achieved, Finnair will reassess the relevant routes.
He also mentioned that Finnair is not currently facing fuel shortages due to the Middle East conflicts. The company has hedged 81% of its fuel needs for the third quarter and 71% for the fourth quarter.