Singapore inks air traffic agreements for more direct and efficient flight routes

The agreements will reduce flight distance and time passengers spend in the air. - ST

SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) on Monday (Oct 23) signed two agreements that will enable more direct and quicker flight routes through greater collaboration between airspace regulators.

The letters of intent will advance air traffic management concepts that allow planes to take more direct routes, said CAAS, which manages Singapore’s airspace. This will cut flight distance and the time passengers spend in the air, which in turn will reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

The signing ceremonies took place on the opening day of a five-day event hosted by CAAS and organised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), a United Nations agency that sets global standards and practices for air transport operations.

Held at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, the event gathered nearly 400 civil aviation authorities, air navigation service providers, international organisations and industry stakeholders worldwide.

The first agreement on the Asia-Pacific trajectory-based operations (TBO) was inked by 10 signatories, including air navigation service providers from China, Indonesia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States, as well as the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (Canso) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Under the TBO concept, air navigation service providers will work together from take-off to touchdown to strategically plan an aircraft’s journey across different flight regions, which allows the aircraft to take a more direct route across different airspaces.

Currently, each country’s air traffic authority provides navigation services separately and independently, as and when a plane travels within its respective airspace.

When TBOs kick in within the next four years, service providers will gain greater and quicker access to flight information such as weather conditions, airspace closures and aerial traffic from other flight regions, enabling them to manage flights more strategically in advance.

The agreement is thus also expected to improve the safety and efficiency of flights.

CAAS had earlier worked with its counterparts in Thailand, Japan and the United States on a multi-leg test flight of the trajectory-based operations concept in June 2023.

A second agreement signed by five parties – Indonesia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canso and IATA – will provide seamless air traffic management through collaboration among the three countries.

Slated to be pushed out in the next year, the agreement will allow aircraft to take the most efficient path to their destinations, instead of being limited to the current network of predefined flight routes among these countries.

These free route operations will make flight journeys more efficient and shorter between Indonesia, New Zealand and Singapore, taking weather conditions and airspace closures into consideration, said CAAS.

Upon defining and identifying city pairs and flights for this project, trial flights will run from the first to third quarter of 2024, with the aim of rolling it out in day-to-day operations between selected cities from the fourth quarter of 2024.

In a Facebook post, Acting Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said there is a need to build capacity in the skies, besides doing so on the ground.

He noted that advancements in innovation and technology will allow air traffic controllers to provide better navigation services, and effectively manage the increasing air traffic and workload.

“It is important that we come together and have more international collaboration to allow us to take practical steps forward in improving the seamlessness of air traffic management,” he said.

Speaking at the event, Chee announced that CAAS is working with international partners to set up a new International Centre of Aviation Innovation to “promote a new approach for public-private sector collaboration”.

He said that the centre will focus on the Asia-Pacific region, and take a broad-based approach to drive innovation across four key areas: air traffic management, smart and digital airports, sustainable aviation and unmanned systems.

The centre will translate research for operational use and develop capabilities for the aviation ecosystem, he added.

It will also partner governments, industry players and research institutes to develop and adopt aviation technologies, he said.