Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Minister for Defence (a) whether respect for existing quiet hours from 10.30 pm until 7.00 am applies to SAF overflights; and (b) if so, whether the overflights will respect the extended quiet hours from 10.00 pm until 8.00 am recommended by the Community Advisory Panel on Neighbourhood Noise.

Minister for Defence, Dr Ng Eng Hen:

Less than one percent of the RSAF's flights, helicopters and planes, take place from 10 pm to 8 am over Singapore. Some of these flights are in response to emergencies such as those activated for search and rescue operations or to deal with aerial threats. One recent example took place last October when two F-16s responded to a bomb threat on-board a Singapore Airlines flight, SQ33. Our fighter jets scrambled in darkness to escort SQ33 safely back to land at Changi Airport at 6 am.