Cathay Pacific has restarted flights from New York to Hong Kong using the ‘Polar route’, which flies over the far eastern part of Russia.
“The Polar route provides a safe, direct and fastest flight experience to our customers”, the airline said.
Unlike European and US airlines, Cathay is not subject to sanctions stopping it from flying in Russian airspace and is ‘compliant with applicable sanctions regulations.‘
It had stopped overflying Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
Using the Polar route also avoids the possibility of having to make aircrew changes because of flight duty limits.