In response to the United States of America (USA) House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi’s, travel to Taiwan to visit the island, China had started to hold live firing military exercises around the island since 4 August.
Pelosi’s travel to Taiwan is of upmost significance due to her position as she is second in waiting for the US presidency and it is also the first instance in 25 years since the highest ranking US official made a trip to the island.
China then reported that it would be conducting exercise in six different zones around the island, indirectly sending a message that it has the island surrounded.
They have also gave warnings to flights to avoid travelling into the zones where military exercises will be conducted.
No SIA flights travelling through Taiwan’s airspace except for those bound for the island
Singapore Airlines (SIA) had mentioned that at the moment, its aircrafts, both passenger and cargo flights were not travelling through Taiwan’s airspace.
The only exceptions are flights SQ878 (Singapore – Taipei) and SQ879 (Taipei – Singapore).
It only mentioned that SIA will be closely following the situation in the region and will make any necessary flight adjustments if the need arises.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) also had mentioned that on 2 August, China had sent a notice to all airlines banning all flights from travelling through areas which they would be carrying out their military exercises.
They added that Singaporean aircraft carries have all acknowledged the message and would alter their flights to avoid those affected areas.
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