(Reuters) – Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd will resume using Russian airspace on some flights, becoming the first major airline to do so since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday.
Cathay Pacific will fly from New York to the Asian financial hub using the so-called ‘Polar Route’ from Nov. 1, the report said citing an emailed response from the airline to the agency.
The report further added that airline cited strong headwinds and payload issues affecting its flights from the east coast of North America, and said its aircraft will overfly the far eastern part of Russia.
Cathay Pacific said in March that it was not routing flights through Russia’s airspace, avoiding the area after the invasion of Ukraine despite longer flight times.
The airline did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Russia earlier this year, had closed its airspace to European and U.S. airlines, forcing some long-haul flights to Asia to take longer routes.
(Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
