The plane of the German chancellor flew over the North Pole to bypass the skies of Russia

The plane of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was forced to cross the North Pole to avoid entering the airspace of the Russian Federation.

As the German edition Süddeutsche Zeitung reports on April 29, returning from a trip to Japan, the chancellor’s plane, flying around Russia, made a decent detour.

It is specified that the board of the Chancellor’s Airbus A350 “Kurt Schumacher” crossed the North Pole at about 13:00 (14:00 Moscow time). The plane flew through Alaska, then turned west and over the Arctic Ocean, then crossed Finland and reached Germany.

Travel time was 13 hours 30 minutes. The board has traveled 12.3 thousand kilometers. According to the publication, flights over the North Pole are rare even for experienced pilots.

It is noted that if the plane flew in the usual way – through Russia and China – the flight time would be shorter by 1 hour and 20 minutes.

At the same time, it is known that Scholz’s plane also flew to Japan by a detour. The route was laid over Austria, Hungary, Romania, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China and South Korea. Travel time has increased by two hours.

As reported EADaily, The European Union closed the airspace for Russia at the end of February, after the start of a military special operation in Ukraine. As a response, Rosaviatsia closed the skies for airlines from 36 states.