How do Asian flights pick the right way around the world?

Simon Calder maps flight routes for Asian flights, reveals what you can and can’t check in/carry on to a plane, and outlines package holiday protection

Helsinki is uniquely well placed to connect passengers from across western Europe with Japan, China and South Korea (Getty/iStock)

Q My friend is flying from Helsinki to Tokyo Narita. I see that the flight has taken the northwestern route over Norway towards Greenland and Alaska. The Helsinki to Tokyo Haneda flight took the same route. Yet two other flights to Asia – to Osaka in Japan and Seoul in Korea – left Helsinki at almost exactly the same time but flew southeast to Poland, then around Ukraine and north of India. What decides the different routes?

Raymond F

A Until February 2022, the Finnish national airline had an excellent niche proposition: a location where its own version of a trans-Siberian express could thrive. Its hub, Helsinki, was uniquely well placed to connect passengers from across western Europe with Japan, China and South Korea.