The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) is setting up an International Aviation Lab to drive airport operations and transformation around the world within the next two years.

CAAS will be collaborating with the International Centre for Aviation Innovation (ICAI), Singapore University of Technology & Design (SUTD), Airbus, Boeing, Changi Airport Group (CAG), SATS Ltd. (SATS), International Airlines Group (IAG) and Singapore Airlines (SIA) to set up the lab.

This is a first-of-its-kind collaboration seeking to drive airport transformation end-to-end.

This may include enhancements to aircraft designs and standardisation across aircraft manufacturers and aircraft types, to better facilitate process automation, and optimise the interface between airline and airport ground operations.

The group signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the collaboration on Sep. 6, 2024. The MOU signing was witnessed by the Singapore Minister for Transport and the Second Minister for Finance, Chee Hong Tat.

Addressing critical challenges

The lab seeks to address some of the most critical challenges faced by international airports around the world through joint research, innovation programmes, sharing resources, as well as ideating and prioritising potential projects, among other things.

The projects will then be test-bedded in Singapore for international application.

Some possible projects include automated loading and unloading of baggage for narrow-body aircraft, automated and smart technical ramp handling, smart gates to assist in the opening or closing of aircraft's door from the outside, and autonomous aircraft pushback and towing.

“The International Aviation Lab is a bold initiative aimed at achieving quantum leaps in productivity through end-to-end transformation of airport processes," said Han Kok Juan, Director-General of CAAS.

"We thank our MOU partners for their support and for choosing Singapore as the testbed for the Lab’s innovations. The solutions we develop are for global deployment; in the coming months, we will work on growing the partnership to onboard more airlines and other airports.”

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