Russia has begun an unprecedented opening of its skies to commercial traffic, and in the past year alone has mapped out thousands of miles of fresh routes, according to new data from the nation's air traffic control agency.


The final tally of just how much air is open over Russia is not yet complete, but traffic planners are quietly suggesting that the total may surpass the amount of airspace open during the life of the Soviet Union.


"In the past year alone, we've established more than 33,000 miles of new routes," said Colonel Mikhail Ushakov, director of airspace use at Rosaeronavigatsiya. The expansion in the skies is accompanied by the opening of 11 Russian airports to international traffic and an agreement on airspace use with China that will shave up to an hour off a round trip flight from North America.


While the development of Russian airspace is viewed as a positive development from almost all quarters, Russia's airborne real estate bonanza has its limits. Not all of the 33,000 km of new routes can carry traffic because the air traffic control agency, Rosaeronavigatsiya, lacks the appropriate staff, equipment and proficiency in English, the official language for traffic controllers on international routes.


For example, a recently approved route between Moscow and Nizhni Novgorod remains out of service until 80 air traffic controllers brush up their English, said Yevgeny Kuzminov, deputy director of professional training for Rosaeronavigatsiya. Other problems dog the expansion in the Far East, where many of the new routes are located.


"The population out there is very small, the electricity supply out there is not great, it's hard to build apartments there and it's hard to get people to live there," Ushakov said.


There are also difficulties over paying for the equipment needed to make the routes safe. In fact, Russia finds itself in an unusual position. If it throws open the skies, it can modernize its air traffic control system with the substantial flyover fees it could collect. But the skies can't open until the air traffic control system is sufficiently modern.


Ushakov did not have a precise estimate of the cost of modernization, but estimates have placed the price in the neighborhood of $250 million. He said Rosaeronavigatsiya's strategy is to increase capacity gradually on its existing routes -- thus increasing the income in flyover fees -- to begin paying for modernization.


In addition to the routes drawn across the Far East, which open up coveted space for carriers to Japan and Southeast Asia, planners next year anticipate weaving a web in the skies over Central Asia, an area which is beginning to experience increases in traffic. Western government officials and airline executives, many of whom guided Russia's hand through the process, are delighted at the developments of the last year. Cutting across the frozen taiga on the way to Southeast Asia, especially through favorable winter winds, can save airlines enormous sums of money.


Jim Mulhall, director of air traffic systems in the CIS for Delta Airlines, said his company could save more than $6.6 million per year by flying over the Russian Far East. For now, the savings are smaller, because two operational Far East routes -- Kamchatka I and Siberia II, in aviation parlance -- are not yet working at full capacity.


There are safety considerations as well. The skies over the Pacific Ocean, where airplanes fly when they cannot enter Russia, are growing congested, said Dennis Cooper, who represents the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in Moscow.


"From a safety point of view, we wanted to spread out more routes to the far east," he said. The FAA also played a role in opening up Russia's skies.


Next on the horizon is the opening of lanes that traverse the North Pole and criss-cross Russia longitudinally. Currently, most air traffic routes follow an east-west pattern, but Ushakov estimated that by crossing the pole and traversing Russia from top to bottom, flights from America to Asia, for example, could save five hours.