Singapore Airlines offers SQ321 victims at least US$10,000 compensation: ‘generous’

An aviation law expert who spoke to This Week in Asia said that while it was standard practice for airlines to offer compensation after such incidents, the payout for light injuries in this case was more generous, given the serious turbulence and massive publicity it attracted.

In a social media update on Tuesday, the airline apologised to passengers for the “traumatic experience on board flight SQ321” and said it was “committed to providing our full support and assistance during this time”.

“SIA will provide a full refund of the air fare to all passengers travelling on SQ321 … including those who did not suffer any injuries,” it stated, adding that all passengers had received S$1,000 each for expenses upon their departure from Bangkok.

Alan Tan, a law professor at National University of Singapore who specialises in aviation, noted that the US$10,000 offered to those with minor injuries was “generous”.

“This is likely a special situation where Singapore Airlines is being generous, given the serious turbulence and the massive publicity the incident attracted,” Tan said.

Airlines typically offer compensation, but passengers can choose to accept or reject the amount if they believe their claims merit higher payouts, he said.

“The more relevant issue is for those with serious injuries, who are likely to need time to assess their injuries and take legal advice,” said Tan, noting the airline would have assessed passengers as having serious, minor or no injuries, based on evaluations by Thai doctors on the ground.

He said mental trauma is not covered under the Montreal Convention, which governs airline liability for passenger injury or death. The term “bodily injury”, as used by the convention, has been interpreted by courts to mean