Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways will resume its use of Russian airspace on its trips from New York to the city from Tuesday – a return to a flight path it abandoned in March because of the war in Ukraine.

The airline said on Sunday it would restart flights on what is known as the “polar route” and reassured passengers it was a safe option.

“In view of strong headwinds and payload issues affecting our flights from the east coast of North America to Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific will be operating the polar route for flights departing from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to Hong Kong,” Cathay said.

“These flights will be overflying the far eastern part of Russia starting from November, subject to weather and headwind conditions.”

The flagship airline said the route was “safe, direct and the fastest experience” for passengers travelling from the east coast of North America, and highlighted it would eliminate the need for a stop in another city for a change of aircrew because of mandatory flight time limits – which could add at least four hours to a journey.

Cathay said the new arrangement would allow it to maximise the number of passengers and checked baggage on board, cut some flight times and save money on fuel costs.

After flight bans were imposed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow retaliated by closing its airspace to countries and airlines it considered hostile.

The rule affected Western carriers across Europe and North America, and some long-haul flights to Asia were also forced to take alternative routes.

Cathay was among several Asian airlines which in March said it would not use flight paths through Russian airspace, despite longer flight times, after Russia invaded its neighbour in February.

Cathay Pacific is to restart use of a flight path over Russia on its services to and from New York.

The airline rerouted its New York to Hong Kong service over the Atlantic, making it the world’s longest passenger flight – about 16 to 17 hours.

Other airlines such as Korean Air and All Nippon Airways also stopped using Russian airspace because of safety concerns.

But Cathay said on Sunday their recent experience with two flights from New York to Hong Kong over the Atlantic suggested that the route was only possible if it was “complemented by strong seasonal jet stream winds, in addition to other positive conditions that occur only very occasionally”.

It underlined there was nothing that prevented Cathay – which was not included in Russian retaliatory sanctions – from flying over the country.

“Flights operating the polar route will be overflying the far eastern part of Russia, which is a long distance – some 5,000km [3,100 miles] – from the western part of Russia and Ukraine,” the airline added.

The polar route is approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization. Cathay said it had operated services using the flight path since 1998.

As Hong Kong has eased Covid-related travel curbs and quarantine, Cathay and its subsidiary HK Express want to add capacity to cope with peak holiday travel.

Cathay last month announced it would add more than 200 each way flights this month to popular destinations among Hong Kong travellers such as Osaka, Seoul, Bangkok, Vancouver and Sydney.

It also said it would restart daily flights to Haneda airport in Tokyo from next month and its four times a week journey to Sapporo in Hokkaido from December.

“To meet the airline’s operational needs over the next 18 to 24 months, we have already started a comprehensive recruitment plan with the aim of hiring more than 4,000 frontline employees, including some 700 pilots and 2,000 cabin crew,” the airline said at the time.

HK Express has also said it will be adding 400 more flights to destinations popular with Hongkongers from October to December, including such cities as Tokyo, Fukuoka, Osaka, Singapore, and Bangkok.