Aerospace Diary

Jane's Airport Review Aug 29 Neelam Mathews  Ben Vogel A global tender for the development and trial of a remote air traffic control (ATC) tower at Changi Airport is approaching the deadline for bids. On 28 February, the Civil Aviation Authority of  Singapore  (CAAS) issued an invitation to tender for industry on development and trials of a Smart Tower prototype. “The tender is currently .....Read more in Janes Airports Review....

Neelam Mathews Feb 22, 2016 Indian airports will need to cater for up to 222 million additional passengers over the next 10 years to keep pace with demand, Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials estimate. Passenger traffic in India grew by 21% in 2015. The AAI plans capital expenditure of approximately USD3 billion in the next five years, mostly on airport development projects. "India is expecting an annual 8% growth in air traffic in the next few years and infrastructure will have to be in step with this," said SV Satish, AAI executive director of safety. "We are looking at more joint ventures, of which one government-to government MoU [memorandum of understanding] has already been signed with Singapore," he told  IHS Jane's   . Under the MoU, approved by the Indian parliament, Changi Airports International will operate and manage Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports. Teams from Singapore and India will also collab...

Neelam Mathews Feb 15, 2016 Signed in November last year, a Memorandum of Understanding between the Airports Authority of India ( AAI ) and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise ( SCE ) is gaining ground. The agreement is to facilitate cooperation in mutually agreed areas of civil aviation services and airport management. A team from Changi Airports International ( CAI ) is to visit the two airports identified for development, Jaipur and Ahmedabad, to look into modalities and assess the scope of work, a ministry of civil aviation official told  AIN . SCE  was formed to facilitate public sector collaboration projects, build long-term partnerships with foreign governments, and generate economic spin-offs for Singapore’s private sector. On a visit to Singapore in November, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Indian government was exploring collaboration with Singapore’sChangiAirport to operate two airports in India. The  MOU  includes design, planning, ...

Written by  Neelam Mathews  Tuesday, 07 October 2014 06:00 With Thailand’s aerospace industry booming, Neelam Mathews reports on the country’s latest MRO developments Thailand’s focus on aerospace is fast making it an emerging centre for component manufacture and maintenance  While investors have indicated that they would like the return of an elected government, in July alone, Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) approved applications for 15 industrial projects valued at $1.6bn, indicating business was back to normal. A string of incentives are making investors bullish about moving their business to a country that has already become the third largest in the world in terms of automobile manufacture. Building the future Recognising that infrastructure is a basic need, deputy secretary general of the BOI, Ajarin Pattanapanchai, has said that plans for an aerospace industrial park will be announced soon.  The country is looking to encourage Tier 2 ...

Jane's Airport Review Neelam Mathews    Sept 2, 2014 Bengal Aerotropolis  in Durgapur, the first privately-run  greenfield airport city in India, will be  commissioned  in late December 2014 after numerous delays,  IHS Jane's  understands. Changi Airports India, a subsidiary of   Singapore-based Changi Airports International (CAI),  is the  largest single shareholder in Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd (BAPL), having increased its stake  to 32.2% in May 2014. The 2,850 m-long runway, taxiways, and  32 m-tall  air traffic ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Read more on  HIS Janes (subscription) 1568631 Airport terminal building for the Bengal Aerotropolis in Durgapur. (Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd)

FBOs and Product Support Drive BBA’s Growth in Asia SINGAPORE AIR SHOW  »  2014 by    NEELAM MATHEWS February 11, 2014, 4:55 AM Looking at organic growth in 2014,  BBA  Aviation (Booth D63), a global provider for support and aftermarket services, is viewing opportunities for acquisitions this year, according to the  UK -based group’s Asia Pacific president David Best. He did not elaborate on possible targets but the group has acknowledged that it would like to add to its already-extensive chain of  FBO s, which includes a new base at Singapore’s Changi Airport. “We will carry on extending scope and scale from our Singapore base,” he told  AIN , adding   “We welcome [economic] recovery in Asia Pacific.” During 2013, the company’s Signature Flight Support  FBO network and its Ontic manufacturing and aftermarket support division both started operations in Singapore alongside its turbine engine repair...

Neelam Mathews Nov 5, 2012 ST Aerospace is adding a narrow-body aircraft hangar at its Changi facility in Singapore.  The total investment in the hangar and associated equipment amounts to $11m.  The new hangar is expected to be operational by the end of third quarter 2013.   At over 3,600 sq.m, the new hangar will be able to accommodate two narrow-body aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320, contributing an additional 200,000 man-hours annually.   The capacity expansion is in response to robust demand for ST Aerospace’s line and base maintenance services at Changi, especially from the growing fleet of low-cost carriers which typically operate narrow-body aircraft.     Apart from Changi, ST Aerospace operates two other airframe maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities in Singapore located in Seletar Aerospace Park and Paya Lebar.  In February this year, it commenced construction to expand its Seletar facility.  The ad...

Neelam Mathews Aug 28, 2012 Bhutan ’s   national airline Drukair is the newest airline to be added to Changi Airport .   A special A-319 inaugural flight from Paro landed at Changi Airport with Princess   Chimi Yangzom Wangchuck , the eldest princess of the royal family leading a delegation to inaugurate the direct service. Drukair’s Paro-Singapore route starts commercial service on Sept 1. The twice-weekly will enable passengers departing Singapore to reach Bhutan in under six hours, saving an overnight transfer stay in Thailand or India . Singapore is the fifth country to be linked to Bhutan by air. In 2011, about 1,300 visitors from Singaporeans visited Bhutan . Drukair recently signed a firm order for an   Airbus A319   aircraft to complement its existing fleet of two A319s. Landlocked Bhutan is one of the world’s most challenging destinations to land. Drukair’s base at Paro airport is only possible using Visual Flight Rules (VF...