As a safety precaution in response to North Korea’s unpredictable missile launches, Singapore’s flagship airline made the very apt decision to change its flight routes that could potentially pass over the test areas.
Channel NewsAsia found out that Singapore Airlines (SIA) has taken steps to reroute its Seoul-Los Angeles flights since July this year, following Pyongyang’s July 27 missile launch into the Sea of Japan. The isolated regime had been testing an intercontinental ballistic missile that, for the first time, appeared capable of reaching the West Coast of the United States.
Despite North Korea being obliged to give prior notice of any activity that could potentially threaten the safety of civilian aircraft as a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization, it repeatedly conducted missile tests without warning.
The closest shave was on Nov 29, where crew on at least three commercial flights from Korean Air and Cathay Pacific reportedly saw the North Korean missile in the air before it actually blew up near their location.
The SCMP cited a message from a staff online communication platform from Cathay Pacific’s general manager of operations, Mark Hoey, which appeared to relay the message from the crew.
“Be advised, we witnessed the DPRK missile blow up and fall apart near our current location,” it read, referring to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the regime’s full title.
As for SIA, it has long taken measures to prevent such alarming window-seat views.
“Currently, our flight routings do not transverse in the vicinity of the missile trajectory as we have taken earlier steps to avoid the northern part of the Sea of Japan,” noted an SIA spokesperson to Channel NewsAsia.
Last month’s missile test, the latest in a series of launches by the secretive regime, prompted global condemnation and further heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula, amid a war of words between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US president Donald Trump, which observers fear could escalate to conflict.
With text by Coconuts Hong Kong
