Aviation sector gets additional $84 million to weather COVID-19 impact

The Singapore government will commit another $84m to the aviation sector to support its companies and workers as they weather the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said Tuesday that this additional sum is on top of the previous government support for the sector, including the Aviation Sector Assistance Package and the Enhanced Aviation Support Package. “The aviation sector remains hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of passenger traffic movements at Changi Airport in November 2020 is down 98% year-on-year,” CAAS said. “Given ongoing border restrictions and the resurgence of COVID-19 in many countries over winter, air travel will not recover soon. It is therefore critical that we maintain our support for the sector to help aviation companies and workers tide through the crisis.” CAAS said that Singapore’s aviation companies had implemented measures to enable air travel while minimising public health risk. Such measures require additional infrastructure, equipment and manpower, all of which have added significant cost which cannot be recovered from passengers during this period, said the authority. To help mitigate some of these costs, the Singapore government will provide funding to support the development, adoption and deployment of innovative technologies and measures to protect airport workers and air crew from contracting COVID-19. These include aircraft and baggage sanitisation systems. CAAS will continue to waive the fees payable by Singapore-based airlines for their Certificates of Airworthiness, as well as their licence fees payable for providing scheduled air services. The waiver will apply to fees payable between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021. <br/>