Japanese airlines JAL, ANA consider diverting routes around Russia

FILE PHOTO: Japan Airlines' (JAL) airplanes are seen, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at the Tokyo International Airport, commonly known as Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan October 30, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan Airlines Co Ltd (JAL) and All Nippon Airways, a subsidiary of ANA Holdings Inc, are considering routes that avoid Russia, following security concerns stemming from its invasion of Ukraine, the airlines said on Wednesday.

JAL will suspend weekly round-trips between Tokyo and Moscow again this week, it added. A spokesperson said the airline would suspend code-sharing on regular flights out of Europe, as its European partners had decided not to fly over Russia.

ANA has put on hold its plans for a flight service to Moscow due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Its president, Yuji Hirako, said that while a decision would be difficult now on whether to launch a service, the airline would face a challenge if it was deemed unprofitable.

Airlines have suspended flights in Russian airspace, while European nations, Canada and the United States have banned Russian aircraft from their airspace, in a bid to pressure President Vladimir Putin to end the Ukraine invasion.

(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Clarence Fernandez)

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