Civil Aviation Authority Singapore

The Civil Aviation Authority of

Singapore

MAKING MIRACLES HAPPEN

S

ingapore’s economic growth over the second half of the 20th century is nothing short of a miracle. The policies introduced

by Lee Kuan Yew – widely recognized as the father of modern day Singapore – led to a transformation of the country’s fortunes.

What was once something of a backwater is now considered a global leader across many business and social indicators. Consider for example, that Singapore’s GDP per capita is just under $80,000 – dwarfing every other east Asian nation.

One of the driving factors behind this growth was a policy of openness. Singapore is ranked second on the Index of Economic Freedom which measures a country’s openness of trade with other countries. Gaining prominence on the list requires that the country has world class transport infrastructure. Singapore Changi Airport was ranked 1st in the world at the 2016 Skytrax World Airports Awards – remarkably, the fourth consecutive year its picked up the award.

Clearly, the organization responsible for the airport, the Civil Airports Authority of Singapore is doing something right so we decided to take a closer look.

Making a key contribution

in the world and an integral part of Singapore’s integration in the global economy.

Civil Aviation authority of Singapore (CAAS)’s mission is to ‘grow a sfae, vibrant air hub and civil aviation system, makinga key contribution to Singapore’s success.’ For over 30 years, since its formation as a statutory board back in 1984, it has done just that. It has brought billions of visitors to the country, which has a population of slightly over 5 million people.

Singapore Changi Airport, where most of these visitors pass through, is the 16th busiest airport

Natioal aviation authorities have at times been the poster children for government excess and inefficiency. The CAAS not only turns a profit

to Singapore’s success

every year, but a handsome one. In 2015/16, its comprehensive net income was S$62.5 million – coming a year after a S$65.8 million profit the year before. It achieves these results, and develops Singapore’s aviation infrastructure, not with excessive amounts of debt, but through sensible financial management. Its

balance sheet shows a large capital government grant was provided in 2015, but this has to be taken in the context of the contribution that the CAAS makes to the country’s overall economic strategy.

A glimpse through the accomplishment’s of the CAAS reveals that in its 32 years of operations, the authority has received both regional and global recogition. And while that’s impressive on its own, it’s also noteworthy how these rewards are becoming more and more frequent as the years pass. This points to an unwillingness on the authority’s management to rest on their laurels, and the continuous improvement of standards across the board. Notably, it has achieved impeccable results in the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme.

The CAAS is also recognized as a centre of aviation learning and thought leadership in the internaitonal aviation community. It shares its kowledge and experience globally and provides a platform for the exchange of knowledge and ideas. It also makes an outstanding

contribution towards building Singapore into a centre of excellence for aviation knowledge and human resource development, so that it continues on the same growth path that it set out on back in the early 1980s. For example, its training arm, the Singapore Aviation Academy

(SAA) provides a comprehensive range of training programmes and is comprised of four specialized schools – the School of Aviation Management, the School of Air Traffic Services, the School of Airport Emergency Services and the School of Aviation Safety and Security.

Through these programmes,it has trained over 70,000 partipants from over 200 countries and territories.

Contributing to International Standards in Sustainability

The CAAS likes to remark that it contributes to international standards in sustainability. In fact, there is ample evidence to suggest that it drives international standards. It actively works with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a UN body, to secure international to develop a comprehensive framework, involving a combination of technology, operational, research & development and market-based measures, to ensure the sustainable growth of global civil aviation.

The CAAS also actively supports the work of ICAO in its Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection since 2000, while Singapore played the role of Chairman of the ICAO High Level Meeting on International Aviation and Climate Change in 2009. Singapore continued to participate actively in the ICAO DGCA Climate Informal Group formed as a follow-up from the High-Level Meeting and the Informal Working Group on the Draft Assembly Resolution on International Aviation and Climate Change in 2010.

Elsewhere in terms of sustainability, the CAAS supports several youth initiatives. In 2015, close

to 500 secondary and tertiary level students were brought to on-site courses at the CAAS. Primary and secondary schools were also furnaced with information about the CAAS and how they could benefit from and interact with the organization now and in the future. The CAAS also runs an annual ‘Aviation Run,’ the proceeds of which go towards supporting 80 local charities. Nearly 5,000 people compete annually and in 2015, the event raised S$250,000.

World class services supported by world-class partners

The CAAS maintains the standards that it has set by being extremely selective in choosing partners to support it in its operations. The completion of Jewel Changi Airport in 2018 – a lifestyle terminal located in front of Terminal 1 at the existing airport – is set to significantly increase existing numbers at the airport and with them, bring increased demand from the airport’s services. This means everything has to run more efficiently to maintain standards.

One of the first steps in making people move around more efficiently is to improve the automated people mover (APM) at the airport.

The award for upgrading the transit system was recently provided to Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) and Mitsubisihi Heavy Industries (MHI).

They will be responsible for supplying additional cars for expanding the existing system at the airport as well as for the design, manufacture, installation and commissioning of the overall upgrade, schedule for completion in 2019.

Unlocking airport capacity and efficiency in Asia Pacific NATS is working with its customers in Asia Pacific to support the growing demand for aviation, including the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), AirNav Indonesia, the Hong Kong Airport Authority and the Japan Air Navigation Service (JANS).

Discover more about what we do, visit; www.nats.aero

NATS Asia Pacific

control training, safety management, as well as analytics

NATS is the UK's leading provider of air traffic control

NATS

services and has over 50 years of experience and expertise

governments, militaries, airport operators and airlines

in managing the world’s most complex airspaces. NATS

in Asia Pacific. In Indonesia, NATS has partnered AirNav

is a trusted advisor of airports, aviation authorities and

Indonesia and AP II to increase flight capacity at Soekarno-

governments around the world for the optimisation of safe

Hatta Airport without adding a new runway by improving air

airport and airspace performance.

navigation, infrastructure and facilities. In the Philippines,

and research. continues

to

expand

its

relationships

with

NATS, together with Schema Konsult, is optimising the use NATS brings to Asia a proven track record and a suite of

of Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s dual runway

adaptable and scalable solutions that sets the standard in

system and boosting the airport’s capacity.

air traffic management support. Through a cruise-to-cruise approach backed by data and innovation, NATS delivers

NATS is also supporting the Hong Kong Airport Authority’s

real value to its partners in overcoming critical challenges

plan to expand Chek Lap Kok Airport by adding a third

to unlock capacity and efficiency.

runway on reclaimed land. It will provide airspace and runway alignment design for the project in this congested

NATS is working with the Civil Aviation Authority of

and geographically demanding environment. Additionally,

Singapore (CAAS) to strengthen Singapore’s regional hub

NATS is collaborating with the Japan Air Navigation Service

status through improvements to ground and airspace

(JANS) to formulate detailed operational plans to manage

performance, as well as its ongoing airport expansion

the expected influx of air traffic in Japan’s airspace before,

plans. To ensure Changi Airport is mission-ready for the

during and immediately after the 2020 Tokyo Olympic

exponential air traffic growth expected, NATS is helping

Games.

CAAS advance its air navigation services capabilities across four pillars: air traffic management operations, air traffic

Increase in passengers also creates demands on air traffic control. Priding itself on its safety record, the CAAS keeps well ahead of passenger growth projections to ensure that its air traffic control resources are never strained. In 2015, it awarded the contract for its air traffic control to NATS, the UK’s leading air traffic management company, It was awarded the contract for managing Singapore’s air traffic control after a competitive tender process that involved four

other companies. Its role will involve air traffic management operations, air traffic control training, safety management and analytics/ research.

Locally, CAAS turns to the ST Aerospace Academy (STAA), one of the world’s leading aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul service providers. Having only been founded in 2007, STAA already employs over 8,000 people across the globe, taking a leadership position in its field. It has a simulator training centre in Singapore’s Seletar Aerospace Park and is among a select few flight training organizations in the world to train airline

cadets on the competency-based Multi-crew Pilot Licence (MPL) programme.

From back water to flagship

The Singapore ‘economic miracle’ is anything but a miracle; it came about because of

institutions like the CAAS, which are committed to being at the forefront of their respective industries. One look through the media channels of the CAAS tells of an organization which is in continuous evolution – and in search of improvements: An example of this can be seen in the fact that despite holding the title for the world’s best airport for the past 4 years, in July 2016, CAAS management began a drive to improve efficiency across the board at its main airport: People who has visited the airport might well wonder how it could possibly be any more efficient. But if it anyone can answer that question, it’s the CAAS.

CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE SINGAPORE CHANGI AIRPORT PO BOX 1 SINGAPORE 918141 MAIN LINE: (65) 6542 1122 http://www.caas.gov.sg

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