SIA’s disinformation campaign
Following the MH17 crash, SIA posted a single-sentence message on Facebook and Twitter which said: “Customers may wish to note that Singapore Airlines flights are not using Ukraine airspace”. A German weekly news magazine, however, revealed that Singapore Airlines jets flew over the same eastern Ukraine area 75 times in the past week.
SIA says sorry for ‘insensitive’ post on MH17
(Channel News Asia) – Singapore Airlines (SIA) on Saturday (July 19) apologised for its social media postings following the crash of Malaysia Airlines MH17.
“We are aware that our Facebook and Twitter update on Friday morning may have come across as insensitive to some,” an SIA spokesperson said in reply to queries from Channel NewsAsia. The post was in response to requests from customers who had asked for information about the airline’s flight routes, the spokesperson said in a statement.
“We recognise that the information could have been better communicated and we sincerely apologise if it had offended our customers and anyone else in the online community,” the statement said.
It added that SIA is “deeply saddened” by what happened to flight MH17. “Our thoughts remain with the families and loved ones of the passengers and crew who perished on board.”
Following the MH17 crash, SIA had posted on Facebook and Twitter a single-sentence message which said: “Customers may wish to note that Singapore Airlines flights are not using Ukraine airspace”. It posted another message an hour later, which said: “Our thoughts are with the passengers and crew of MH17 and their families.”
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SIA used same MH17 flight path 75 times in past week, says magazine
(The Malaysian Insider) – As fingers point at Malaysia Airlines for allowing flight MH17 to fly over a war zone, a German weekly news magazine has revealed that Singapore Airlines jets flew over the same eastern Ukraine area 75 times in the past week.
In contrast, MAS planes only flew over rebel-held Donetsk 48 times within the same period, Spiegel Online reported, citing flight tracking website flightradar24.com.
It said Russian airline Aeroflot flew over the area 86 times in the past seven days, Ukraine International Airlines 62 times, and Germany’s largest airline, Lufthansa, 56 times.
“Overflights were recorded here in the past seven days in a radius of nearly 240km to the Ukrainian industrial city.
“In the ranking of the airlines, MAS is at fifth place with 48 overflights… the data shows that the region of Donetsk experienced brisk air traffic,” said Spiegel Online.
