Flight by millionaire space tourist hampers Finnair passengers on China routes

Carrier initially received wrong information on airspace shutdown

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A space flight by an American millionaire caused delays and unscheduled landings for three Finnair planes bound for Helsinki from Chinese airports on Sunday.
      The flights were delayed by three hours when the aircraft were obliged to make an unplanned stop in Novosibirsk in Russia. The incoming flights were from Canton, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, and the planes were carrying in excess of 600 passengers.
     
Russia and Kazakhstan shut down part of their airspace when the Soyuz rocket carrying American millionaire space tourist Richard Garriott blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
      The millionaire was accompanied by a Russian cosmonaut and an American astronaut.
      The trio are scheduled to dock with the International Space Station on Tuesday.
     
Initially Finnair were given the wrong information from civil aviation authorities as to when the Russian airspace would be locked down.
      The carrier was under the impression that the aircraft would be able to transit the planned exclusion zone before it was shut down for the Soyuz launch.
      However, the time of the shutdown was changed, and the pilots had to circle over Mongolia and consider a suitable point for a technical landing.
      Novosibirsk in Siberia was selected. The planes were on the ground for less than an hour for refuelling, and the passengers remained on board.
      The refuelling exercise was necessary as the lock-down and consequent circling delay had meant the planes would not have sufficient fuel to reach Helsinki.
     
As a result of the late arrivals, Finnair had to organise onward connections with other carriers to destinations in Europe. As many as 150 passengers were obliged to spend the night in Helsinki.
      Finnair will incur a bill of tens of thousands, perhaps a hundred thousand euros.
      In addition to the expense of overnights in hotels and arrangements to replace broken flight connections, there was the cost of additional fuel to consider.
     


Links:
  Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan (Wikipedia)
  Finnair Group

Helsingin Sanomat