Some flights operated by Chinese carriers have begun to bypass southern Russian airspace after the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash, according to Chinese media outlet Caixin.

Thursday's report mentioned that the airspace is the same area where Azerbaijan Airlines Flight J28243 was suspected to have been shot down by Russian air defense forces on December 25, 2024.

Air China flight CA781 from Urumqi, China to Georgia arrives at Tbilisi International Airport on the morning of January 2, 2025.

In contrast to its trajectory on December 22, 2024, the flight this time overflew Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan, avoiding Russian airspace altogether.

In contrast, prior to the crash of flight J28243, the flight would normally have traveled through the airspace of Russia's southern Dagestan region into Georgia, and not through Azerbaijan.

In addition to Air China, the report also cites China Southern Airlines as an example. On December 30, 2024, China Southern Airlines Flight CZ6039 also avoided Russian airspace altogether on its journey, circling south to enter Georgia from Azerbaijan.

Prior to the Azerbaijan Airlines disaster, flight CZ6039 had also generally traveled from Russia into Georgia.

According to incomplete statistics, there are not many routes through the south of Russia for Chinese airline companies, but generally flights from China to and from southern Europe, Turkey and the Caucasus countries, with destinations including Tbilisi, Georgia; Istanbul, Turkey; Belgrade, Serbia; Budapest, Hungary; Rome and Milan, Italy; and Madrid, Spain.