Singapore: S$500m committed to support aviation workers, companies as air travel picks up

The Government will commit S$500m to support aviation companies and workers in the coming financial year as air travel picks up, announced Transport Minister S Iswaran in Parliament on Wednesday. He said the OneAviation Resilience Package will help the sector to ramp up its capacity in managing increased traveller volumes, in order to rebuild and reclaim Singapore’s status as an international aviation hub. "Changi’s air connectivity anchors the Singapore economy. ... To lose Changi’s connectivity, is to lose this key competitive advantage, and our livelihoods that depend on it," said Iswaran. "Fortunately, we are in a different situation today thanks to a better understanding of the virus, well-established safe management measures, and high levels of vaccination in our population. Hence, we have been able to take careful and calibrated steps to reopen our borders." The OneAviation Resilience Package includes S$60m to rebuild the sector's workforce, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) said in a separate press release. Aviation companies will receive wage support via an extension of the Aviation Workforce Retention Grant for six months, covering 10% of wages paid to local employees from April to September this year. A cap of S$4,600 of gross monthly wages per employee applies. Another S$390m will be set aside for cost relief and support for public health safeguards. This includes extending rebates on fees payable by aviation companies at Changi Airport and Seletar Airport for six months. Further support will be given based on the extent of air travel recovery, MOT said. The Government will also continue to defray the cost of implementing public health and safe management measures at the airport, which the ministry said will enable safe air travel, protect aviation workers and the wider community.<br/>