A 900% fare hike shows why Asian airlines like SIA can weather Middle East chaos

A one-way economy ticket flying SIA from Heathrow to Singapore on March 5 costs $10,900. Read more at straitstimes.com.

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Hong Kong - Asian carriers like Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways are among the best positioned airlines to weather the war in the Middle East as travelers scramble for flights – and pay huge premiums – to escape the conflict.

Asian airlines have emerged as one of the go-to choices for people leaving the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli strikes on Iran. Extensive airspace closures mean carriers like Emirates and Qatar Airways have essentially ground to a halt, creating opportunities for rivals that can fly non-stop between Europe and Asia.

Passengers in European hubs are handing over huge sums of money to secure a seat to Asia on flights that bypass the Middle East.

A one-way economy ticket flying SIA from Heathrow to Singapore on March 5 costs HK$66,767 (S$10,900) – a 900 per cent increase on fares later in the month. The same ticket on a flight to Hong Kong is HK$26,737, compared with HK$5,670 in just a few weeks from now.

But it’s unclear how long such sky-high fares, which are also helping absorb the surge in oil prices resulting from the war, will last. While prolonged disruptions would underpin higher fares for longer, a resolution to the conflict likely comes with a swift resumption of operations for the region’s carriers given the Middle East’s critical importance to global travel and trade flows.