The number of passenger services operating to and from Russia has continued to decline as Western sanctions close off the country’s connectivity. Data shows that flight hours on departing services from Russia fell to a low of 2,643 on 21 March, the lowest since the crisis in Ukraine erupted, and the weakest since 16 February 2021, when travel was effectively shut down because of Covid-19. Stripping out the data for domestic flights, the data shows an even greater decline in activity in the country, to just 230 flight hours on 14 March, although it has bumped up very marginally since then. On only one occasion since June 2020 were there fewer flight hours from the country. The data also shows that 31 passenger airlines have operated services from Russia internationally since 15 March, with the top 10 being Ural Airlines, Uzbekistan Airways, Turkish Airlines, Belavia, Flydubai, Aeroflot, Kyrgyzstan-based Avia Traffic, Emirates, Air Serbia, and Somon Air and Utair at joint ninth. The majority of the remaining airlines have operated just a handful of services from the country in the past two weeks. The data tallies with announcements from a number of airlines that for insurance- or leasing-related reasons they have been forced to abandon services to Russia, even if their home countries have not joined Western sanctions. Speaking on 15 March, Peter Foster, chief executive of Kazakhstan’s national airline Air Astana, noted that it had ceased flying to or over Russia because insurance had been withdrawn. Previously, Russia accounted for around 9% of its network. Likewise, Turkish low-cost carrier Pegasus, which previously flew to six destinations in Russia – a large source market for Turkish tourism arrivals – would cease flying to the country until at least 10 April. “In accordance with the European Union Regulation No 2022/328, sanctions and restrictions are implemented related to insurance/reinsurance, leasing, operations and maintenance services on flights to and from Russian Federation,” it stated. Even services to countries allied with Russia, such as China, have been hit. In recent weeks only one daily service – operated by Air China – has taken place between the two countries, down from around four per day in the first two months of the year, across a variety of carriers. Meanwhile, Russian airlines risk having their aircraft impounded abroad because of the sanctions regime, and 78 aircraft have been seized, according to Moscow-based Interfax.

Six Oneworld members have jointly committed to purchasing up to 200 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel per year from US company Gevo. Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Japan Airlines and Qatar Airways expect to use the SAF for operations in California for five years from 2027, says Oneworld. In November 2021, nine members of the alliance jointly signed a tentative SAF agreement with another US company, Aemetis, through which they intend to purchase more than 350 million gallons of waste-wood-based fuel to power operations from San Francisco. “Five months ago, we committed as an alliance to a target of 10% sustainable aviation fuel by 2030,” Oneworld’s chief executive Rob Gurney states. “Today’s announcement of a second major sustainable aviation fuel offtake among member airlines builds further upon that commitment, while demonstrating the value that can be delivered when our member airlines work together.”Patrick Gruber, chief executive of Colorado-based renewable fuels producer Gevo, adds: “Eliminating fossil-based emissions from the lifecycle of jet fuel is our mission. Net-zero SAF is what we all want. I’m pleased that Oneworld is on board.”
Gevo expects to use inedible corn products to produce its SAF at three facilities under development in the US Midwest. In December 2019, Delta Air Lines made a commitment with Gevo to buy 10 million gallons of biofuel annually.

China Eastern is grounding its entire Boeing 737-800 fleet following the flight MU5735 crash on 21 March, state-owned broadcaster China Media Group reports citing information from the airline. Data shows that China Eastern Airlines has 109 in-service 737-800 aircraft across four airport bases, less than seven years old on average. 29 jets are at the group’s main Shanghai Hongqiao International airport base, with another 40 at Yunnan’s Kunming Changshui International airport, 31 at Wuhan Tianhe International airport, and nine at Guangdong’s Guangzhou Baiyun International airport. China Eastern subsidiaries Shanghai Airlines and China United Airlines have, respectively, 70 and 45 737-800 jets, averaging nine and six years old. It is unclear from the reports if these airlines are affected by the grounding. Data shows flight MU5735 was scheduled to fly from Kunming to Guangzhou, departing at 13:10 and arriving 15:05. The flight was operated by an aircraft bearing registration B-1791, MSN 41474. It was carrying 123 passengers and nine crew from Kunming to Guangzhou on board when it crashed at Wuzhou, Guangxi province. Media reports suggest there are no indications of survivors. Data and analysis by real-time route tracker Flightradar24 shows the aircraft departed at 13:16. Operations appeared to be normal until the aircraft began a rapid descent to 7,425 ft AMSL, from 14:20. It briefly climbed to 8,600ft AMSL at 14:22:05 but plunged to 3,225ft AMSL, at 14:22:35, when the last ADS-B message was received. Aircraft registration information filed with the Civil Aviation Administration of China shows that ownership lies with an entity known as Yamasa Sangyo Aircraft CES14 Kumiai. A bank loan with Commerzbank AG, Hong Kong branch has been secured against the aircraft.