Singapore Airlines (SQ, Singapore Changi) has changed the flight route of its daily Singapore Changi-Los Angeles International service to avoid the Sea of Japan where North Korea conducts missile testing, the carrier has announced.

The previously unannounced change was introduced in July after North Korea had conducted two tests of powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States.

Analysis of Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows that the carrier's A350-900s are flying to the west of Japan, avoiding overflying the Sea of Japan located between Japan and the Korean Penninsula.

Cathay Pacific and Korean Air pilots have reported seeing blasts which resembled the missiles reentering the atmosphere during the previous North Korean tests. The routes over the Sea of Japan are used by most of the airlines on the routes between Europe and Japan, as well as between South Korea and North America. Some of the most powerful missiles tested by North Korea have flown over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean to the west of the archipelago.