SIA21 over UK
 

Hello everyone, My first post.

I'm just on Flightradar24 and have spotted SIA 21 EWR-SIN over Wales heading South East towards London at FL350, I was really quiet surprised to see this flight here as I was under the Impression it routed almost over the north pole?

Im a bit of an aviation newbie so it could be completely normal I just thought It seemed really strange since I've never noticed it over the UK. Thanks Luke

No need to feel suppressed (sic) Luke!!! The routes of flights off the Atlantic over the UK vary according to weather systems. However, Singapore Airlines heavy jets are often to be seen overflying southern UK. I live near Woodley amd have seen plenty of their 747s and some A340s overflying. Not seen any A380s yet..

Hi Luke

It often routes over UK eastbound -all depends on the best route on the day to take advantage of the high level jetstream which generally blows west to east in the N Hemisphere.

Flights ex New York to places further north in Asia (HKG, NRT) tend to go on a more polar routing

Hope this helps

Surprised,Not suppressed, whoops ;) Oh thanks for your responses It's the first time I've ever noticed a Singapore thats destination isn't in the UK and never realised that would track that far south, Just learnt something today :ok:

As I type SIA 21, is over Shannon heading for the UK and London overhead

Suzeman

SQ21. Estimated flight time: 18h 11m.

It can (and does) go pretty much any way it wants to get the best winds, and the outward will often route markedly differently to the return.

Great Circle Singapore to New York is 9,530 nm, which passes close to the North Pole, thus due north from Singapore and due South into New York.

However if you go overhead London, say, the two Great Circles together come to 10,220 nm, only another 690 nm, which in certain weather and routes available combinations may give the shortest time.

If it goes the "other way round", over the North Pacific and overhead Anchorage, Alaska, that's only 10,038 nm. Curously, this routing is so much over land that I reckon you could do it without ETOPS

The jetstream does tend to blow from the west, and it is good to follow it where you can. The A340 demonstration flight "round the world", Toulouse-Auckland-Toulouse, did exactly the same thing, out over Asia, back over America.

Maybe that's statue miles.

8300 nautical miles! :ok:

And by the way WHBM the A340-500 is four engined so ETOPS never comes into it

I suspect he knows that. I also suspect he was talking in general terms, not this specific case.

Actually ETOPS no longer only applys to aircraft with two engines......

PT6A

I suspect so, too :)

What he doesn't know is how he thought the default in GC Mapper was nm, not statute !