The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and Airbus have decided to collaborate on sustainable aviation as international air travel recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the MoU, CAAS and Airbus will look into the demand for alternative aviation fuels and how they can help with decarbonization strategies, as well as explore opportunities for the research and development of disruptive technologies and enabling airport infrastructure.
They will also look into the economic conditions, regulatory environment, and international policies and standards that are needed to support sustainable aviation.
The first project under the MoU is a technical feasibility study of an airport hydrogen hub and the infrastructure requirements to support future hydrogen-powered aircraft operations. These include the production, storage, and distribution of hydrogen, aircraft ground services, logistics equipment, and refueling systems.
Han Kok Juan Director-General CAAS
“Recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will not be a return to business-as-usual but an opportunity to rebuild an aviation sector that is more sustainable. Making sustainable aviation viable requires cross-sectoral collaboration to reinvent the entire ecosystem and close partnership between the public and private sectors. The CAAS-Airbus collaboration serves as an important pathfinder to better understand the opportunities and challenges and to build new networks of stakeholders for a sustainable aviation sector.”
The study will examine how these requirements can be planned and provisioned in airport development. The study will begin in early 2022 and will run for two years. The outcome of the study will inform policymaking, infrastructure planning, and industry development.
“Airbus is committed to leading the decarbonization of the aviation sector and aims to deliver the world’s first zero-emission commercial aircraft by 2035,” said Ms. Sabine Klauke, Chief Technical Officer, Airbus.
