Transport:

Avoiding Flying Over War Zones

Saturday, 2 August 2014

I commented about flying over war zones in my blog on 9 July, a week before MH 17 was brought down. And followed that up with more thoughts on where airlines fly on 29 July.Yesterday I flew from Singapore to London on Singapore Airlines SQ 308. Singapore Airlines had been flying over Ukraine at the same time as MH 17, it could have just as easily been a Singapore Airlines A380 as a Malaysian Airlines 777.

My flight followed the usual route across India, Pakistan and then Afghanistan. No sign of the Taliban far below us. ▼IMG_7848 - SQ 308 over Afghanistan 540We continued across Turkmenistan and out over the Caspian Sea where we turned north to skirt round Ukraine. ▼IMG_7855 - SQ skirting Urkraine 01 540Once we were safely north of Ukraine we turned west again to continue to London. ▼IMG_7870 - SQ skirting Ukraine 02 540My Singapore-London flight was a simple non-stop. Going the other way, London to Singapore, involved numerous stops on a list of airlines, a trip which I hope to turn into a book. More to follow.