The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) announced signing several agreements at and in conjunction with the Singapore Airshow, underscoring the nation’s commitment to modernizing and improving global civil aviation operations.

Perhaps most importantly, Singapore and the United States signed a revised Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement–Implementation Procedures for Airworthiness (BASA-IPA), deepening the long-standing cooperation between the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the CAAS. The enhanced BASA-IPA follows the launch last December of the U.S.-Singapore Joint Aviation Steering Committee (JASC), created to manage and guide technical collaboration between the FAA and CAAS on issues involving international aviation safety, regional cooperation and development, air traffic management (ATM), environment, and cybersecurity. The revised BASA-IPA includes an expanded scope of allowable modifications and repairs beyond cabin interiors, and is expected to reduce redundant certification requirements for design approvals from both the U.S. and Singapore, providing significant time and cost savings.

“Through many years of working together, both sides have enjoyed a strong relationship anchored on mutual trust and confidence in technical competence,” said CAAS Deputy Director-General Tay Tiang Guan.

Added FAA acting deputy administrator Carl Burleson, “The FAA values our strong U.S.–Singapore bilateral relationship, and we look forward to continued collaboration as we enhance our efforts this year through the development of the FAA-CAAS Joint Aviation Steering Committee.”

Other initiatives aimed at advancing ATM include:

• CAAS, Singapore Electronics Limited and GomSpace signed a research collaboration agreement aimed at implementing space-based Very High Frequency (VHF) communications for air traffic management.
• CAAS and the Mitre Corporation announced expanding their collaboration aimed at using Artificial Intelligence to improve ATM.
• The Singaporean authority has also established a partnership with the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) to advance ATM in Singapore and Europe.
• Under a tripartite agreement signed at the airshow, CAAS, the UK’s NAT and Airways New Zealand will work to improve on-time performance of long haul air traffic, by managing arrivals over greater distances.
• Meanwhile, on the eve of the airshow, Singapore concluded an Open Skies Agreement with Guyana, allowing the two countries’ airlines to operate flights between them as well as beyond to any third country, without restrictions on capacity, frequency, aircraft type and routing.