SATISH CHENEY
Associated Press
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Singapore Airlines apologized Saturday over social media remarks it posted after the Malaysian jetliner was shot down that were taken by many as being insensitive.
After the Malaysia Airlines plane went down over Ukraine with 298 onboard Thursday, postings on Facebook and Twitter from Singapore Airlines claimed that its flights do not fly across Ukrainian airspace. The remarks drew the ire of many Malaysians, with some taking to social media themselves.
“A post starting with condolence (and) then, stating your planes are diverted and not using this airspace anymore would have made (you) sound less heartless!” Joannica Dass wrote on Facebook.
Others, however, felt many were overreacting to Singapore Airlines’ remarks, and said the carrier was merely trying to get a message across to its customers.
“I don’t think their comment was to advertise or boast their flight routes as much as it was to ease the tension of the hundreds of passengers that are scheduled to fly out to other countries over the next few days,” Karishma Sharma wrote on Facebook.
On Saturday, Singapore Airlines apologized and tried to clarify its remarks.
“We are aware of that our Facebook and Twitter update on Friday morning may have come across as insensitive to some. The post was in response to many requests from our customers who had asked for information about our flight routes for their upcoming flights with us,” Singapore Airlines said in an email to The Associated Press.
“We recognize that the information could have been better communicated and we sincerely apologize if it had offended our customers and anyone else in the online community,” it said.
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