The Asian Business Aviation Association (AsBAA) is increasing its cooperation with Singapore’s aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), to enhance and promote business aviation safety. Speaking at the AsBAA Safety Day 2018, Tan Kah Han, senior director (safety regulation) and director (airworthiness/flight operations) of CAAS, said CAAS is closely monitoring the safety of flight around Seletar Airport as high-rise buildings make the landscape more urban.

CAAS estimates a compound annual growth rate of 4.5 percent for business aviation in Singapore between 2018 and 2023. An ICF SH&E study commissioned by CAAS estimated that business aviation based in Singapore will double by 2027, spurred by the opening of the new Seletar Passenger Terminal by the end of this year.

Tan added that CAAS would implement revised Part 91 general operating rules and Part 125 complex general aviation this year. ​Under the ANR-125 a Complex General Aviation (CGA) operator will need to be certified by CAAS before conducting any operation. The certification provides assurance that the operator has the appropriate management systems in place for the conduct of safe operations. The ANR-125 is also benchmarked after ICAO Annex 6 Part 2, Chapter 3 Standards and Recommended Practices.

“With their rich experience, industry stakeholders and associations provide valuable insights and feedback with useful suggestions and recommendations that can further enhance aviation safety.” Tan later told AIN.

“We are looking forward to more dialog and suggestions with AsBAA, and we will do what we can do," Tan said.

“We are extremely happy to have this enhanced and open dialog with CAAS. We as an association will have to take the leadership to voice our concerns,” said AsBAA chair Jenny Lau. “We also hope that business aviation is being considered during the planning stage of airports.” She cited the development of Changi’s Terminal 5 and expansion plans as an example of including business aviation.

Thomas Warren, senior v-p of AsBAA, said the conversation with CAAS has picked up tremendously in the last 12 months. “For the last month, we [have increased discussions regarding] the airspace over Seletar and approaches for larger business jets into the airfield,” Warren said. “We hope that this will be the baseline for further engagements with other regulators in Asia.”