Singapore to London Track
Evening
I flew back from Singapore on BA16 recently. The pilot told us that we would be going the "long way round" which had me worried for a moment as I didn't fancy a trip across the Pacific. However the route went over mid-India and Saudi Arabia before turning right into Turkey then over the bulkans into London.
Looking at the great circle route this is well out of the way.
Why is this? The flight was operated by a 777, do they have terrain clearance issues early in the flight?
Thanks