Developing a Sustainable Air Hub in Singapore

  • 31 Dec 2022
Photo: Jewel Changi Airport Trustee Pte Ltd

In the past decade, the international civil aviation sector has been awoken to its importance in helping to fight climate change by taking firm and decisive actions to decarbonise its operations. It is well-recognised that the push for sustainable aviation will require coordinated State actions, cross sectoral collaboration, public-private partnership and greater climate consciousness amongst corporates and the travelling public.

Singapore has started work on this by voluntarily taking part in the ICAO’s Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) in its pilot phase. Additionally, Singapore is embarking on a one-year pilot to use blended Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) at Changi Airport. As a next step, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) is developing a Sustainable Air Hub Blueprint to bring together all these efforts and to set a roadmap with clear 2030 and 2050 targets and tangible pathways for achieving them. In September 2022, an International Advisory Panel (IAP) on Sustainable Air Hub has submitted its report detailing 15 key initiatives across three key aviation domains of airport, airline and air traffic management that Singapore could embark on as tangible pathways to decarbonise the aviation sector.

Formed in February 2022, the IAP brought together 20 industry, technology, and knowledge partners from Singapore and around the world to discuss how international aviation can be made more sustainable and accessible for all, and how Singapore can contribute to this international effort. Members of the IAP include Directors-Generals from key aviation International Organisations, as well as C-suite executives from the aviation industry and renowned knowledge and technology partners. In a period of six months, the IAP conducted four physical and virtual meetings to exchange views on the vision and strategies to chart the way forward for the Singapore air hub. To canvass ideas from a wider array of stakeholders, IAP members moderated six deep dive sessions for three aviation domains, namely airport, airline and air traffic management. These sessions, which involved more than 120 representatives from 40 local and international partners, generated ideas and provided useful insights to the IAP recommendations.

Source: “Developing a Sustainable Air Hub in Singapore” via https://go.gov.sg/sustainableairhubsg

Key Recommendations by the IAP
The IAP sought to contribute to the development of the Singapore Sustainable Air Hub Blueprint by proposing specific projects that Singapore can initiate, leveraging its hub position and strong partnerships with international bodies, other countries and private companies. In doing so, the IAP had taken an action-oriented, industry-driven approach, tapping on the experience and expertise of its members, which include senior executives of global aviation bodies and key aviation companies. The recommendations covered three key domains of airport, airline and air traffic management

a) Airport Domain. The IAP recommended six initiatives to improve sustainability at Singapore’s Changi Airport by switching to renewable energy and improving energy and resource efficiency. These include solar panel deployment on the airfield, transiting airside vehicles towards cleaner energy sources and exploring the potential for an onsite waste-to-energy facility to enhance resource circularity.

b) Airline Domain. The IAP recommended five initiatives focussing on improving sustainability of airlines operating to, from and through Singapore. This includes investing in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) comprising the setting up an entire ecosystem to make SAF viable. On the supply side, this includes identifying and sourcing for feedstock within the region. On the demand side, it will include setting-up a “Singapore / ASEAN Corporate Buyers’ Club” as well as designing and introducing an offtake mechanism to create SAF demand signals.

c) Air Traffic Management Domain. The IAP recommended four short- and medium-term initiatives to optimise air traffic management procedures and advance new concept of operations in collaboration with regional partners and stakeholders. These would increase efficiency and reduce fuel burn and emissions, resulting in improved environmental performance and fuel savings. Recommendations include building on existing efforts to improve the coordination and management of longer haul flights and implementing direct route operations for arrivals in Singapore on specific route segments, which would enable aircraft to fly more optimal and efficient routes.

The IAP has also recommended the development of four critical enablers – that will undergird the 15 initiatives and provide the right conditions for the effective implementation of these initiatives. 

Recommendations by the IAP
i)Policies and regulations are key tools for governments to set the sustainability ambition and direction for the aviation sector. This includes the development of a taxonomy that can guide all parties’ understanding of what would be considered sustainable aviation.

ii)Industry development to foster collaboration, cooperation, and capability-building amongst stakeholders is a key enabler to facilitate the implementation of the recommendations.

iii)Infrastructure Planning and Provision as the extent and readiness of infrastructure required would play a role in determining the timelines for initiatives.

iv)Workforce Transformation to spur greater consciousness amongst the aviation workforce regarding the environmental impact of their daily work and create new jobs with a deeper focus on aviation sustainability.

The recommendations of the IAP will be integrated into Singapore’s Sustainable Air Hub Blueprint, to be published by CAAS in 2023. This will be a significant initiative which will help provide thought leadership and further catalyse investments, actions and collaborations with private sector companies and other countries. 

The IAP report is accessible via the following link: https://go.gov.sg/sustainableairhubsg

IAP Members

Chair
Professor Chong Tow Chong
President, Singapore University of Technology and Design

Aviation Authority
Mr Han Kok Juan
Director-General, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore

International Organisations

Mr Luis Felipe de Oliveira
Director-General, Airports Council International

Mr Simon Hocquard
Director-General, Civil Air Navigation Services Organization

Mr Willie Walsh Director-General, International Air Transport Association

Knowledge Partners

Professor Peter Jackson
Convenor of Airport Deep Dive Director, Aviation Studies Institute

Professor Lam Khin Yong
Convenor of Air Traffic Management Deep Dive
Co-Chair, Air Traffic Management Research Institute

Mr Jeffrey Chua
Convenor of Airline Deep Dive
Chairman, Boston Consulting Group Singapore

Mr Kaushik Das
Senior Partner and Managing Partner for Southeast Asia, McKinsey & Company

Mr Pedro Gómez
Head of Shaping the Future of Mobility, Member of Executive Committee, World Economic Forum Technology

Partners

Mr. Thorsten Lange
Executive Vice President for Renewable Aviation, Neste

Dr. Steve Howard
Chief Sustainability Officer, Temasek Industry Partners

Dr. Sabine Klauke
Chief Technical Officer, Airbus

Dr. Naveed Hussain
Vice President and Chief Engineer, Boeing Defense, Space and Security, The Boeing Company

Dr. Todd Citron
Chief Technology Officer, The Boeing Company

Mr. Lee Seow Hiang
Chief Executive Officer, Changi Airport Group

Ms. Grazia Vittadini
Chief Technology and Strategy Officer, Rolls-Royce

Mr. Kerry Mok
President and Chief Executive Officer, SATS

Ms. Aw Kah Peng
Chairperson, Shell Companies in Singapore

Mr. Goh Choon Phong
Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Airlines

Mr. Philippe Keryer
Executive Vice President for Strategy, Research, and Technology, Thales

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