SINGAPORE, Aug 4 — The Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight SQ351 from Copenhagen was “approximately 90km away” when Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was downed, said Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew today (Aug 4), adding that the SIA immediately re-routed all their flights to avoid Ukrainian airspace entirely after receiving news of the incident.

Addressing questions about SIA flights over Ukraine in Parliament, Mr Lui said the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) had issued an advisory in April for airlines to avoid an airspace over Crimea called the Simferopol Flight Information Region (FIR).

The SIA and Malaysian Airlines, however, were using a different airspace called Dnipropetrovsk FIR. The Ukrainian authorities had prohibited commercial flights from flying below 26,000 feet since July 1, and extended this restriction to 32,000 feet on July 14 without giving a reason.

“They continued to allow commercial flights in this airspace above 32,000 feet,” said Mr Lui. “The Ukrainian authority is in the best position to assess the threat to commercial flights over its airspace. Indeed, under international law, Ukraine is responsible for putting in place measures to ensure the safe passage of civilian aircraft,” said Mr Lui.

Since the Ukrainian authorities continued to allow commercial flights in Dnipropetrovsk FIR above 32,000 feet, no national aviation authorities, regional aviation bodies, nor ICAO had provided any advisories to avoid that part of the Ukrainian airspace, he said.

The SIA uses sophisticated computer-based flight planning systems to help them in their flight planning, and continuously conduct risk assessments on their flight routes, he said. The airline, as part of its safety assessment process, has also proactively avoided overflying certain conflict areas even if the airways were available for use, he added.

Calling the downing of MH17 as a “horrific tragedy”, Mr Lui said and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore has requested Singapore carriers to review their risk assessment of flight operations over conflict areas. — TODAY