Singapore has established a new International Centre for Aviation Innovation with former EASA chief Patrick Ky as its founding chief executive officer.
While the outlook for air travel in the Asia-Pacific is very strong, the regional aviation sector faces challenges such as a lack of investment in new technologies to manage airspace, manpower constraints, and an imperative to reduce the carbon emissions, says Han Kok Juan, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.
To help deal with these constraints, ICAI will partner with regional governments and industry to research advanced air navigation services, airport automation, unmanned air systems, and sustainability. A key early focus will be partnering with regional governments to research new concepts and develop capabilities for operational use.
Han, observing Ky’s ability to work across governments in Europe, says the two-term EASA executive director is well placed to lead the effort.
“It’s an honour to have been appointed to lead this new organisation,” says Ky.
“It’s a challenging but exciting task, to build partnerships which can deliver tangible and operational results in such a complex environment. I look forward to working with Singaporean and regional partners to build a dynamic and sustainable aviation system.”
Han and Ky were speaking to reporters during a briefing in Singapore. ICAI will be a company in Singapore under the CAAS, with CAAS’s Han serving as chairman.
Ky says the short-term objective for ICAI will be forming partnerships. Longer term, the centre aims to develop practical solutions that can improve the efficiency and safety of air travel.
One challenge will be the diversity of countries in the Asia-Pacific, which lacks organisations such as the European Union, Eurocontrol, and the Single European Sky ATM Research and Development (SESAR) initiative, which was championed by Ky during his ten years leading EASA.
Nonetheless, Han observes that the region’s air navigation services providers have already expressed interest in collaborating together to make air traffic more efficient.
Ky feels that the massive air traffic growth forecast for the region means Asia-Pacific governments have a strong incentive to work together to improve the efficiency of aviation.
“Airports are not enough,” says Ky. “You need to build the airspace capacity around it. How do you build this airspace capacity? A number of air traffic management service providers are asking themselves this question.”
Ky stepped down from his role at EASA on 1 September 2023. During his time at the agency he sought to simplify the authority’s procedures in order to establish more efficient rulemaking processes, and led the organisation as it dealt with the impact of the pandemic and the proliferation of eVTOL programmes.
In December 2023, it was announced that French air navigation service DSNA’s chief, Florian Guillermet, will be the next leader of EASA.
