SINGAPORE has set up the International Centre for Aviation Innovation (ICAI) to leverage technology in a bid to address capacity and manpower constraints, as well as the need to decarbonise emissions amid rising air travel demand.

The centre, an initiative of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), 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.

For a start, it will have S$140 million in funding for work on next-generation air navigation services under Singapore’s Aviation Transformation Programme 2.0. The ICAI will use the funds from Singapore’s National Research Foundation to develop new concepts of operations and prototypes, enhance the ecosystem of research institutes, and train researchers, scientists and engineers.

CAAS will also explore engaging the ICAI on a similar arrangement for the other three vertical domains the centre is working on. The ICAI will seek funding support from other partners as well.

Adopting a vendor-agnostic approach, it will develop solutions with open architecture principles to support interoperability across different standards.

The Singapore-based centre will focus on the Asia-Pacific region, where air travel demand is expected to grow robustly over the next few decades.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

It will partner governments, industry and research institutes around the world to share risk, pool expertise and resources, and co-develop solutions for the region.

Han Kok Juan, the director-general of CAAS, has been appointed chair of the ICAI’s board.

Patrick Ky, former executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), is ICAI’s founding chief executive officer. The Frenchman was in charge of Europe’s air traffic management modernisation programme before his stint at the EASA.

Annual investments into airports in Asia-Pacific stood at US$42.9 billion in 2022, and are projected to reach US$78.5 billion in 2030, noted Han. In contrast, investments into air traffic management were only a fraction of that – at US$2.3 billion in 2022 and a forecasted US$11.4 billion in 2030.

The capacity in the sky needs to match capacity on the ground, said Han, highlighting the need for more investment in the aviation sector.

The aviation sector needs to innovate, but technology development is costly in a complex and safety-critical aviation environment, said Han. “Cross-border and public-private sector collaboration will help us de-risk investments and accelerate adoption.”