How to Travel in 2026, eh?

Sometimes, it seems, it would be “business as normal” should we be living in the North or South America. But if you are living in Europe, Asia, or Oceania, and in parts of Africa, travel at the moment is… troublesome.

Hubs and Corridors

The above might have been a slightly oversimplified statement. It should have stated that if you are going on intercontinental travels, things currently become difficult. Why?

Because over the course of years, or even past few decades, the Gulf carriers, such as Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways have asserted their dominance on long haul, and intercontinental travel by building a massive network of routes via Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha.

Because they’ve done this more affordably than European carriers could with direct flights, many of those direct routes have disappeared entirely.

The problem?

Generally there is no problem; if you have a 12 hour direct flight, now it might be split into two 6h flights with a suitable break in between. For your bodily functions this is actually better: you get to stretch better than in an aircraft, you get to walk, and maybe even grab a bite before sitting down for next six hours in high-altitude atmosphere again, with reduced risk of DVT (deep vein thrombosis).

But?

Back in the day when the war in Ukraine started, that closed the Ukrainian airspace for obvious reasons. Several years earlier Russians shot down a Malaysian Airlines plane over Ukraine, and no airline or civil aviation authority wants that to happen to the planes or passengers.

This impacted some of the routes airlines used. But when it became clearer that the war wasn’t going to be just a skirmish, and sanctions against Russia became reality, they retaliated with something that had impact: Russia closed their airspace for EU, and other carriers.

Problem?

With a single action, carriers such as Finnair from Finland lost all competitive edge between Europe and East Asia. If you look at the map, you can see how massive this geopolitical effect had on the Finnish carrier.

What many airlines did after the Russian airspace was closed for them, was to alter their routes to more southern route, over areas like Türkiye, Iran and so on towards the destination.

Now, with the war affecting all of the Gulf states, that route is effectively blocked.

See My Point?

The current geopolitics, caused by a bunch of elderly men in differing countries, don’t just affect the people on those areas that these elderly gentlemen use as their playground. These have a profound effect on people around the globe. And that is not just some nameless people we might hear in the news—it is you and me.

With oil prices on steep rise, the fuel price is also going up. Including for the airlines. Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has already announced cancellations for flights due to rise of the costs. Many airlines have started to increase the price of the tickets, including Qantas and Finnair. Checking sites such as Momondo, this price hike can already be seen; flights from Helsinki, Finland to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are now roughly 20-30 eur more expensive as just a week ago.

It isn’t that much, but for two people a return can be up to 120 eur more, and with significantly less choices.

Should I Stay at Home, Then?

One issue that we must talk about is the safety of travel now. Air travel continues to be the safest form of travel, despite the ongoing geopolitical conflicts. But in the reality of 2026, “safe” doesn’t necessarily mean “what we used to travel to be.“

As I said, the planes are still the safest place to be. The problem is everything that happens before you board: the routes that might vanish before you go from dream to reality with your booking; the fares that jump up while you go and fill your teacup; and the itineraries that unravel just because someone closed a stretch of sky between your points of A and B.

So here’s the 2026 reality check: travel isn’t business as normal. It’s business as possible—if you’re flexible, if you’re patient, and if you’re willing to pay a little more for the privilege of moving through a world that’s quietly redrawing its maps, all while hoping that the ease of travel returns as soon as possible.

Whether that’s worth it? That’s the question only you can answer. Leave a comment below on your thoughts.

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