SIA, Scoot resume flying over Iranian airspace

SINGAPORE - People flying between Singapore and destinations such as Frankfurt and Istanbul on Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Scoot are arriving at their destinations sooner than before. This comes after the airlines resumed flying over Iranian airspace on June 27.

The airlines had

stopped flying over Iranian airspace

on April 13 at 1pm, after Iran launched its first direct attack on Israeli territory that day.

An SIA spokesperson told The Straits Times the lifting of this stoppage applies to SIA flights between Singapore and 14 destinations – namely Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Istanbul, London, New York (JFK), New York (Newark), Manchester, Milan, Munich, Paris, Rome and Zurich.

Scoot-operated flights between Singapore and Athens have also begun flying over Iranian airspace.

Checks by The Straits Times on flight tracking website FlightAware showed that up to about an hour was saved on some flights between Singapore and the affected destinations after June 27.

For example, SQ26 from Singapore to Frankfurt took about 13 hours before June 27, but some 12 hours after. Also, SQ392 from Singapore to Istanbul took almost 11 hours before June 27, but about 10 hours after.

The SIA spokesperson said that SIA Group regularly reviews and determines its flight paths based on multiple factors, including weather conditions, safety and security considerations, advisories from international and regional bodies, insights from independent external security consultants and regulatory restrictions.

“The SIA Group’s top priority is the safety of our customers and staff,” it added.

Mr Coby Travis, 26, said he is all for shorter flights, regardless of the flight routes.

The Singaporean is travelling to Paris via SIA in September, and added that flight routes are pre-determined and so any routes used would be deemed safe.

Iran had on April 13 retaliated against an

Israeli strike on its Damascus consulate

on April 1, which killed seven Revolutionary Guards officers. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the April 1 attack, reported Reuters.

A New York Times report described the Israeli strike as being among the deadliest attacks between Israel and Iran, amid intensifying tensions at the time over Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip against Hamas, which is backed by Iran.