As Southeast Asia’s tourism sector takes a hit from the Iran war, a pivot to serving as alternative flight hubs may save the industry.

The region’s major airlines are seeing an increase in demand for European routes as travellers avoid Middle Eastern hubs amid disruptive drone and missile attacks, according to Reuters.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) joins other major Asian carriers, such as Cathay Pacific, Korean Air and Qantas Airways, in posting strong performances on Europe flights in March.

SIA confirmed that its passenger traffic rose by 14.7 per cent year-on-year in March, with its growth supported by demand for air travel for the Easter holiday in April, “as well as spillover Europe-bound traffic as capacity through Middle East air hubs was affected by the ongoing Middle East conflict”, it said in its statement.

The airline added that capacity on its Europe flights grew to 93.5 per cent in March, up from 79.7 per cent the year before.

In March, several airlines, including SIA, added over 15 flights between Singapore and Europe. Cathay also confirmed earlier this month that it had added more flights to Europe to cater to a surge in demand.