Pilots fear flights will run low on fuel over sudden airspace closure

This Monday it happened again. Both international and domestic airliners were shortly after noon ordered to stay out of the airspace on central and southeastern Kola Peninsula. 

Severstal’s flight from Arkhangelsk to Murmansk was one of the planes that on Monday had to fly a long detour. Aeroflot’s route from Murmansk to Moscow could neither fly a straight route, but had to go much further west than normal, closer to the border with Finland. Screenshot from FlightRadar24.com

For unknown reasons, the airspace between the White Sea and the military airfield Olenya became closed. 

Olenya is the military airport south of Murmansk that last week was attacked by at least one Ukrainian long-distance drone. 

As reported by the Barents Observer, Emirates route from San Francisco to Dubai was forced to circle over Norway’s Varanger area as Russia suddenly closed the airspace over the Kola Peninsula last Monday. At the time, the public was not informed about the ongoing drone attack against Olenya. 

Authorities in Murmansk kept the information secret until a video showing the drone as it was shot down appeared on social media two days later. 

On Monday August 26, another Emirates flight – this time from Los Angeles to Dubai – entered Russian airspace from Finnish Lapland, but was soon ordered to change course to avoid the area closed for traffic, the plane’s path on FlightRadar24 showed. 

Now, pilots with Russian airline Pobeda blow the alarm bell, news outlet Nexta informs on Twitter (X). One of the pilots filed a complaint with the police, saying the company’s planes are required to fly with a minimum amount of fuel to save costs. 

The pilot says such restrictions do not take into account that sometimes planes need to avoid thunderstorms and for that reason flies longer distances than the shortest route. 

A main fear is not being able to reach the destination before fuel runs out.

Pobeda’s planes, consisting of a fleet of Boeing 737, are now flying with fuel for just 30 minutes longer than route plans, Nexta says the pilot informed.

In the event of a drone attack, fuel will not last for making a second round, according to the pilot’s warning.

Pobeda is one of several airliners with daily flights to Murmansk.

When the airspace over the entire Murmansk region was shut down last Monday, a commercial flight from Moscow to Apatity was forced to fly in circles over the White Sea as air defense systems were activated over the Kola Peninsula. 

Well aware of the MH17 flight that was shot down by a Russian supported anti-aircraft missile over Ukraine in 2014, flight controllers are nowadays fast to order civilian aircraft to stay out of areas when air-defense systems are activated. 

Russia’s war on Ukraine has reached the country’s own far northern region of Murmansk.