Russia earning €18 mil. per year from Chinese airline flights from Schiphol to China

Anyone flying with a Chinese airline from Schiphol to China is unknowingly boosting the Russian state coffers. Russia earns around €18 million per year from Chinese flights from Schiphol in air traffic control charges alone, according to research by BNR. The country also charges royalties for airspace use. The amount of these royalties is unknown.

Russia is geographically essential for east-west air traffic routes. In February 2022, the European Union closed its airspace to Russian aircraft after Russia invaded Ukraine, and Vladimir Putin responded by closing Russian airspace to EU airlines. As a result, airlines like KLM and Lufthansa have to make significant detours to Asia, leading to longer travel times, more crew members required, higher fuel consumption, and, as a result, more expensive tickets.

Chinese airlines like Xiamen Air, China Southern Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines can still use Russian airspace. They fly daily via Russia between Schiphol and Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Xiamen. And because they can use the shortest route, they can also have the cheapest tickets.

What many Dutch travelers may not realize is that the Chinese airlines pay air traffic control fees and royalties to Russia for using its airspace. Charging for air traffic control is a common practice internationally. The amount depends on the weight of the aircraft and the distance flown. For a flight from Schiphol to China, airlines pay Russia approximately €4,000 to €8,000 per flight, amounting to around €18 million per year, BNR calculated using rates published by the Russian Centre of Aeronautical Information of Civil Aviation.

But Russia also charges royalties for the right to fly through its airspace. “If you’re strategically located, like Russia, airlines have little choice: fly over it or detour,” Floris de Haan, an aviation expert affiliated with Erasmus University in Rotterdam, told BNR. The amount Russia charges in royalties is unknown. Chinese airlines declined to provide this information to BNR. But, before the Russian airspace closed to EU airlines, Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith called flying over Russian territory “extremely expensive.”

Most travelers probably don’t consider that they’re helping line Russia’s pockets when buying air tickets. “People primarily choose based on price, frequency, convenience, and travel time. Not what an airline pays to the countries they fly over,” De Haan said. They often don’t even know what countries they’re flying over.

And choosing other airlines to avoid paying money to Russia comes with other downsides. “If you fly with a Chinese airline, you’ll have two hours less CO2 emissions. That’s better from a sustainability perspective,” De Haan said.