Aviation innovation centre set up in S’pore to tackle capacity constraints, carbon emissions
Amid rising demand for air travel in the Asia-Pacific region, an aviation innovation centre has been set up in Singapore to address airspace and manpower constraints through the use of technology. Changi Airport is likely to be a beneficiary when Terminal 5 opens in the mid-2030s, as the air hub looks to ensure that it has the necessary infrastructure and manpower to serve the growth in traffic. Helmed by Patrick Ky, the former head of Europe’s civil aviation safety agency, the International Centre for Aviation Innovation will also research ways for the sector to reduce its carbon emissions, said the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) on Jan 10. The centre was incorporated in August 2023 by CAAS as a company limited by guarantee. It will focus on the Asia-Pacific region, as air travel demand here is expected to grow robustly over the next few decades, the authority said. The centre will undertake research and development projects in four key areas: next-generation air navigation services, automated and smart airports, unmanned aviation systems and sustainable aviation. By bringing together governments, industry players and research institutes from around the world to share risk and pool expertise and resources, the centre aims to develop solutions that are eventually deployed in the real world. “You can always have a very smart idea, a new technology which works in a lab, but it never gets implemented... because it stays in a research environment,” said Mr Ky at a press conference. “If you don’t bring in very early in the process the downstream developers or implementers of your innovation, it doesn’t work,” added the Frenchman, who was formerly executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. CAAS director-general Han Kok Juan, who chairs the innovation centre’s governing board, said there is technology available, but it is costly and complex to deploy, hence a new model of cooperation is required. For a start, the centre has secured $140m in funding from Singapore’s National Research Foundation (NRF) to work on next-generation air navigation services over a five-year period.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2024-01-11/general/aviation-innovation-centre-set-up-in-s2019pore-to-tackle-capacity-constraints-carbon-emissions
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Aviation innovation centre set up in S’pore to tackle capacity constraints, carbon emissions
Amid rising demand for air travel in the Asia-Pacific region, an aviation innovation centre has been set up in Singapore to address airspace and manpower constraints through the use of technology. Changi Airport is likely to be a beneficiary when Terminal 5 opens in the mid-2030s, as the air hub looks to ensure that it has the necessary infrastructure and manpower to serve the growth in traffic. Helmed by Patrick Ky, the former head of Europe’s civil aviation safety agency, the International Centre for Aviation Innovation will also research ways for the sector to reduce its carbon emissions, said the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) on Jan 10. The centre was incorporated in August 2023 by CAAS as a company limited by guarantee. It will focus on the Asia-Pacific region, as air travel demand here is expected to grow robustly over the next few decades, the authority said. The centre will undertake research and development projects in four key areas: next-generation air navigation services, automated and smart airports, unmanned aviation systems and sustainable aviation. By bringing together governments, industry players and research institutes from around the world to share risk and pool expertise and resources, the centre aims to develop solutions that are eventually deployed in the real world. “You can always have a very smart idea, a new technology which works in a lab, but it never gets implemented... because it stays in a research environment,” said Mr Ky at a press conference. “If you don’t bring in very early in the process the downstream developers or implementers of your innovation, it doesn’t work,” added the Frenchman, who was formerly executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. CAAS director-general Han Kok Juan, who chairs the innovation centre’s governing board, said there is technology available, but it is costly and complex to deploy, hence a new model of cooperation is required. For a start, the centre has secured $140m in funding from Singapore’s National Research Foundation (NRF) to work on next-generation air navigation services over a five-year period.<br/>
