They weren't flying ETOPS-300 35 years ago. > The new Arctic route, however, flies over very remote areas, where airports are few and far between. As a result,

They weren't flying ETOPS-300 35 years ago. > The new Arctic route, however, flies over very remote areas, where airports are few and far between. As a result, the airline had to apply for an extension of that protocol to 300 minutes, meaning the Airbus A350-900s it uses to fly to Japan can now stray as far as five hours away from the nearest airport, while still meeting all international regulations and safety protocols.