The days of short transit time are over

Higher airfares, longer flight times, more time to kill waiting for connecting flights. The plight of the Asia Pacific-Europe traveller is – in a word – frustrating.

To a large extent the war in Ukraine is to blame. The closure of Russian air space to many airlines has resulted in an increase in costs and flight times between Europe and Asia Pacific.

In the year following the start of the war, average airfares between Europe and Asia Pacific were 20% higher than before the pandemic in 2019 and 53% higher than last year, ForwardKeys data shows.

Higher airfares have also been influenced by the late reopening of Asian destinations.

On flight times, 37% of air traffic between the two continents now takes more than eight hours, up from 23% before the invasion. Routes that have been worst affected include those between Japan and South Korea.

But the pain for passengers doesn’t end there? ForwardKeys figures show that the share of short transfers (meaning less than two hours) has decreased from 44% in 2019 to 37% in 2023.

But not everyone is unhappy. Longer waiting times in the transfer lounges means travellers have more time to shop now that airport operations are running more smoothly.

“Besides, many of them also tend to plan a bit more time at the airport before departure to avoid bad surprises,” ForwardKeys notes.

Olivier Ponti, VP Insights, ForwardKeys, said, “The greatest impact on air travel to and from Russia since the invasion of Ukraine last February has been war-related sanctions, which have particularly benefitted Turkey and the Middle East, as they have maintained direct flights to and from Russia.

“We expect Chinese airlines will be another winner as they are still flying through Russian air space; and that gives them a competitive advantage in flight times and fuel costs on routes between Europe and Asia Pacific.”