We refer to Mr Sean Lim Wei Xin's letter (Why do SAF officers fly business class to exercises?, Nov 26).
To cater for the large numbers of soldiers travelling overseas for exercises, competitive tenders for chartered flights provide the most cost efficient form of mass travel as they cost less than purchasing individual economy seats on commercial flights.
Business class seats are not specified as a requirement in these tenders but some of the aircraft provided do include business class seats and they are provided at no added cost to the Singapore Armed Forces.
These are the business class seats referred to in Mr Lim's letter.
We thank him for this opportunity to clarify.
Lee Chung Wei
Director Manpower
Ministry of Defence