German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s plane crossed the North Pole on his way back from Tokyo to Berlin. The Airbus A350 traveled 12,300 kilometers in 13 and a half hours, Der Spiegel reported. The flight through China and Russia would have been 1 hour and 20 minutes shorter.
The Chancellor’s plane flew through Alaska, over the Arctic Ocean and through Finland. On the way to Tokyo, the plane flew a different route – over Austria, Hungary, Romania, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China and South Korea. The travel time has increased by two hours because of the overflight of Russia.
According to Der Spiegel flying over the North Pole is a rarity even for experienced pilots. “It’s something spectacular. It’s things that are rarely done,” said Luftwaffe captain Michael Weyerer, who was the pilot of the plane. He had only crossed the North Pole once before. In 2013, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle flew from Laos to New York and it was the shortest route.
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