Flight Safety Foundation to launch aviation safety centre in Singapore

The centre will work on three key projects this year. 

Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) will establish its Asia Pacific Centre for Aviation Safety (AP-CAS)  in Singapore, Minister for Transport and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations S Iswaran announced. 

According to Iswaran, the centre will work on three key projects this year, including pulling together safety data to identify risk areas specific to the Asia-Pacific region and help develop targeted solutions.

“Second, it will establish and promote the capabilities needed to maintain effective safety leadership. Third, it will examine and promulgate best practices on pilot training,” Iswaran added.

The centre will serve as a hub for aviation players in APAC to exchange insights and recommendations to increase safety awareness.“We in Singapore are honoured to work with the Flight Safety Foundation and to contribute to the launch of the Centre. We look forward to working with the Centre, and doing our part as a regional aviation hub to strengthen regional collaboration on aviation safety,” Iswaran said.

Singapore’s passenger traffic had already gone back up to pre-pandemic levels and will continue to do so in the coming years, according to Iswaran.

“Within the Asia-Pacific, air travel has recovered progressively. In Singapore, our weekly passenger traffic has recovered to around 80% of pre-COVID levels. Based on the current trajectory, passenger traffic at Changi Airport should return to pre-COVID levels by next year, possibly sooner,” he said.

Citing the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Iswaran said travel to the APAC region will exponentially increase in the next 20 years.

“Passenger journeys by air are expected to be more than double, driven by growing populations and a rising middle class. So even as we focus on our immediate recovery from COVID, building back capacity, it is important that we cast our eyes further ahead and plan for the anticipated growth for the future,” he said.