A few days into their hike across Asia, these two Swiss natives arrived at the airport check-in counter, and for the first time since they’d begun their trip, they said something to each other: “Relief.” They now had a short, connecting flight back to Switzerland.
Having gotten much closer to completing their time in limbo (at the Airport) waiting to take what would be their first flight out of Singapore and the last flight back from Asia, while they waited to board their flight they had no idea the events related to their travel plans would bring them into limbo before they left Singapore, and before they even got home.
Approximately 24 hours before boarding their flights, Jeremie and Joana learned about upcoming travel restrictions due to the critical state of the political climate in the Middle East, which led several countries in the region to close their respective airspaces in connection with the military build up in Iraq as well as the current U.S. contingent in Iran and the ensuing conflict with U.S.-Iranian relations.
Jeremie and Joana could not board their flight on Qatar Airways; therefore, they began their search for a way back home.
They were told that even though they had bought new airline tickets, their alternative airline tickets were cancelled.
There was no available seat on all direct flight departure schedules for several days as they attempted multiple different means of transportation out of Singapore.
A lot of other people who were looking to fly out of Singapore were also trying to find other means of flying out as Airlines continued to change schedules and routes since very few alternative means of getting out existed.
Jeremie and Joana had the biggest surprise!
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) put together a special program to assist foreign tourist stranded in Singapore, due to cancelled flights, between February 28–March 8, if not residents of Singapore.
As a result of the program, they were able to take an emergency flight, which would enable them to get a Flight Assistance Flight from Singapore.
Jeremie and Joana purchased Singapore Airlines Flight SQ8002 from Singapore Airport on March 8, 2023. This is a special flight meant for tourists who are stuck in Singapore and need to get back to their home countries by flying to Muscat, Oman.
Jeremie and Joana’s week had been very stressful because they were trying to find tickets to get home and hearing so many stories of people who had delays or canceled their flights. They were trying to find flights that they could afford and then saw those flights disappear because of the number of people trying to book seats on them. They had tried every possible way to find other flights that fit within their budget or were available, but to no avail.
Once they learned about the special flight leaving on March 8, they acted immediately.
After much confusion at the airport, Jeremie and Joana were relieved to be able to check in at the counter.
Cases like those shown by Jeremie and Joana illustrate just how fast a crisis can have an effect on the ability of Travelers to travel internationally.
A closure of the airspaces in any part of the world will have global effects that will affect airport operations and the flights to/from airports that could be located thousands of kilometres (km) away from the area affected by the airspace closure.
Because they experienced a closure of airspace above Singapore at the end of their trip there, they changed from being not able to continue being tourists and travelling to/from Singapore until airspace was once again opened to being able to continue travelling home.
