Singapore and New Zealand have teamed up to drive the development of a sustainable aviation ecosystem. The collaboration, which saw Singapore’s Ministry of Transport (MOT) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) enter a Memorandum of Arrangement (MoA) on Sustainable Aviation with the New Zealand Ministry of Transport and New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, is part of a wider partnership with industry, academia and other stakeholder groups.

The agreement was signed by Han Kok Juan, Director General, CAAS and Her Excellency Jo Tyndall, New Zealand High Commissioner to Singapore. It was witnessed by the Right Honourable Jacinda Ardem, Prime Minister of New Zealand and S Iswaran, Singapore’s Minister for Transport and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations.

As part of the arrangement, Singapore and New Zealand will collaborate and share information on initiatives to advance sustainable aviation, covering four key areas: policy and regulation; industry development; future infrastructure planning and provision; and workforce transformation. Under the MoA, the two countries will coordinate the research and development, test bedding and trial of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), facilitating the development of secure sustainable fuels, including SAF and hydrogen supply chains in the Asia-Pacific region and studying the scale, costs, technical and commercial viabilities of developing “green lanes” between New Zealand and Singapore to encourage the gradual uptake of SAF-operated flights by consumers.

With sustainability identified by both the MOT and CAAS as a priority for the aviation sector as it re-emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, the MoA is also one of the first initiatives under the new Climate Change and Green Economy Pillar under the existing Singapore-New Zealand Enhanced Partnership.

The CAAS is currently developing a Sustainable Air Hub Blueprint, which it will publish in 2023, outlining medium and longer-term sustainability goals and to identify practical pathways to achieving those targets.

Header image: Credit Singapore Ministry of Transport

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