Singapore and The United States Collaborate to Advance Sustainable Aviation Efforts

29 September 2022

         Singapore’s Ministry of Transport (MOT) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) on Sustainable Aviation with the United States Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration to advance sustainable aviation efforts in Singapore and the United States.  The MOC was signed on 28 September 2022 by Mr S Iswaran, Singapore’s Minister for Transport and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, and Mr Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, on the sidelines of the 41^st Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organisation in Montreal, Canada.

2        Under the MOC, Singapore and the United States will collaborate and exchange information in four key areas to advance sustainable aviation, namely (a) policy and regulation; (b) industry development; (c) future infrastructure planning and provision; and (d) workforce transformation.

3        The MOC will drive the research and development, test bedding and trial of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), facilitate the development of secure sustainable fuels supply chains, as well as study the scale, costs and technical and commercial viabilities of developing “green lanes” between Singapore and the United States, and to encourage the gradual uptake of SAF-operated flights by consumers, such as corporate and individual travellers.

4        Singapore’s Minister for Transport and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, Mr S Iswaran, said, “Singapore and the United States share mutual interests in advancing aviation sustainability, particularly as climate change is a global challenge that directly affects international civil aviation. Coordinated state action and collaboration between the public and private sectors is key to drive and support collective climate action globally. This Memorandum of Cooperation is a testament of our shared vision to foster such partnerships, and we look forward to working closely with the United States in advancing aviation sustainability.”

5        The conclusion of the MOC is another step forward in Singapore’s sustainability aviation journey. Amongst other efforts, CAAS, Singapore Airlines and Temasek launched a one-year pilot on the use of SAF at Changi Airport in February 2022. Singapore also entered a Memorandum of Arrangement (MOA) on Sustainable Aviation with the New Zealand in April this year. Last week, the International Advisory Panel (IAP) on Sustainable Air Hub¹ submitted its report detailing 15 key initiatives to tackle decarbonisation across three key aviation domains of airport, airline and air traffic management. MOT and CAAS will study the recommendations and incorporate them into the development of the Sustainable Air Hub Blueprint. CAAS will publish the Blueprint in 2023 to provide a decarbonisation roadmap for the Singapore air hub, with medium-term 2030 and longer-term 2050 targets and tangible pathways for achieving them.