China’s latest round of offensive military drills around Taiwan is causing flight delays and reroutes, disrupting thousands of travelers.
For aviation, the impact has been immediate. Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration warned that the designated live fire zones effectively create temporary no-fly areas that intersect with some of the busiest air routes in East Asia. As a result, more than 100,000 airline passengers are expected to be affected, which includes more than 850 domestic flights and international flights that could be delayed, rerouted, or canceled.
The Taipei Flight Information Region sits astride key corridors linking Southeast Asia with North Asia, North America, and Europe. When airspace within that region becomes restricted, airlines have are forced to reroute aircraft, often sending flights farther east toward Japan or farther south through longer paths over open ocean. These detours increase flight times, burn more fuel, and create can cause a cascade of flight delays.
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