«It's impossible to predict». Belavia explained why a flight to Georgia can take eight hours
All weekend, social media discussed the flight from Minsk to Kutaisi, which on August 22 flew for eight hours instead of the usual three and a half. The reason was the closure of the sky over Russian regions, forcing the plane to circle through Kazakhstan. Recently, such situations occur periodically. Belavia told an Office Life journalist how they operate in such cases and who bears the costs.
The airline admits that it operates in constantly changing circumstances: daily, it receives notifications about changes in the use of airspace in certain regions of Russia due to drones. And it's impossible to predict this process for obvious reasons.
«The airline continuously monitors the situation, adjusts routes, and operates flights strictly according to safety requirements. For example, restrictions recently affected the territory of the Moscow aviation hub. As a result, we were forced to revise our flight plan. If situational restrictions on other territories are added to this, the result will be an increase in routes, and in some cases even the need for technical landings,» Belavia representatives comment.
The problem is also that information about the closure of an airspace zone often reaches the crew directly during the flight. The route has to be adjusted mid-flight. In such a case, it's also impossible to prepare and organize additional catering for passengers.
«Of course, such a situation does not please the airline. We incur financial costs due to increased routes and technical landings. But, in addition to significant additional expenses, the delay of one flight can lead to the delay of the next one — due to the high season and dense fleet scheduling. Thus, chain reactions can cause schedule disruptions even on routes that seemingly have no connection to airspace closures,» Belavia explains.
Notably, changes in routes do not always cause delays. Sometimes it can be the opposite, the airline says:
For example, on Saturday, August 22, due to restrictions and a forced detour, the daytime flight to and from Kutaisi was operated with a technical stop. But daytime flights on the same route on August 23 and 24 arrived even earlier than scheduled. In all cases, flights were operated on the same type of aircraft — Boeing. And overall, the vast majority of Belavia flights still depart according to schedule.
The company emphasizes that in the case of detours, predicting the development of events or warning about future delays is, unfortunately, not possible:
«We understand how uncomfortable the situation is for our passengers, so we are looking for and finding ways to fulfill our obligations to them, ensuring complete safety. If the situation requires a detour, then we will detour. If a technical stop is needed, then we will perform it and refuel the aircraft. No one will allow even minimal risk.»
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