[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] As the United States prepares to commercialize 5th generation mobile communication (5G) services, major airlines around the world are canceling and changing flights to the U.S., and Singapore Airlines (SIA) has replaced the aircraft models on its flights from Boeing to Airbus.
According to Singapore's CNA broadcast on the 20th, SIA replaced two aircraft operating on the Singapore?Germany Frankfurt?U.S. New York route from the existing Boeing 777-300ER to the Airbus A350-900.
Two flights operating on the Singapore?Japan Tokyo?U.S. Los Angeles route will also be replaced from the Boeing 777-300ER model to the Airbus A350-900 model.
SIA stated, "We will continue to monitor the situation and closely cooperate with relevant authorities and Boeing on this issue."
This measure comes as airlines worldwide are rushing to cancel and change flights citing safety concerns ahead of the launch of 5G services in the U.S.
Airlines are concerned that the 5G wireless frequency bands to be used near several U.S. airport transmission towers are close to the operating bands of aircraft altimeters, which could seriously affect flight operations.
The 5G band used in the U.S. is 3.7GHz?3.98GHz, which is close to the aircraft altimeter operating band of 4.2GHz?4.4GHz that measures the altitude of airplanes.
It is pointed out that interference from 5G transmissions may cause these aircraft altimeters to malfunction, especially posing safety issues when aircraft are landing. It is known to particularly affect Boeing 777 aircraft used for long-haul flights.
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