- 15,000 km (9,321 miles) Flight Detour
- Aircraft Journey of More than 30 Hours
According to FlightRadar24, a Russian plane carrying diplomats expelled from Spain and Greece was forced to make a 15,000 km (9,321 miles) detour on its way back to Moscow after several countries refused to let it enter their airspace, due to the European Union flight ban. It is roughly as long as Singapore to New York’s world-record flight.
To begin with, the plane had to fly from Moscow to Madrid, while remaining in international space except for its arrival in Spain. Then, it had to make its way to Athenes, avoiding the airspace of Malta and Italy. From Greece to Russia, the aircraft flew through Turkish airspace back to Moscow, avoiding areas near Ukraine.
The plane is thought to be a Tupolev Tu-154, which has a range of just over 12,000 km (7,456 miles). The total journey would have taken more than 30 hours.
“It’s a bit unusual for a diplomatic expulsion to have this much of an effect on air traffic,” said Siavash Ardalan, aviation analyst at FlightRadar24.
Because other nations have threatened to expel Russian representatives, it’s conceivable that we’ll see even more convoluted trips by Russia.