Seletar Airport wants to become a key regional player in the upcoming eVTOL sector.
Singapore's little know Seletar Airport is hoping to emerge from the shadows as it eyes to become a busy hub for flying taxis in the region. Electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOL) have piqued the industry interest lately, with several aerospace companies looking to invest for future operations. And Singapore could be a crucial regional link in the category.
Singapore's Seletar Airport, which is essentially used for serving private jets, and some regional commercial flights, is eyeing to become a regional force in the flying taxi business, if and when such aircraft begin flying.
As pointed out by a Bloomberg report, Singapore has already made agreements with startup companies Skyports Ltd. and Volocopter GmbH, which are looking to convert the airfield into a vertiport for future operations.
This year's Singapore Airshow generated significant buzz on the prospects of flying taxis, with Malaysian tycoon Tony Fernandes of AirAsia placing an order to rent at least 100 of them from Vertical Aerospace Ltd.
Christian Bauer, Volocopter's chief commercial officer, believes that Asia is the right market to invest in eVTOL, with a high concentration of mega cities that are not found anywhere else. He says that e taxis will be "good for inhabitants, for tourists, and also for cross-border connections to relieve the pain of congestion."
Many industry experts believe that Singapore provides all the right conditions, such as its high-rise and high-density landscape and highly efficient domestic transport systems, to test, learn and scale both the mobility adoption and the business to then export it across the world.
Volocopter feels that the industry could provide overall economic benefits to the city-state of up to $3 billion and create as many as 1,300 local jobs by 2030. And Seletar Airport is expected to be crucial for such developments.
The area surrounding the airstrip is called Seletar Aerospace Park, which houses several aerospace companies. Bloomberg quotes Lim Ai Ting, director of aerospace and marine cluster at Singapore's real estate developer Jurong Town Corporation (JTC), as saying,
“The future of urban air mobility is exciting and presents far-reaching possibilities for Seletar Aerospace Park. We’re currently in discussions with various parties on new partnerships. This will add to the park’s vibrancy and also benefit the aerospace industry ecosystem.”
Of course, all of this depends on regulatory approvals of the aircraft, which many believe could take years to get. Regulators will have to determine whether such air taxis are safe to operate and their potential impact on the overall aviation ecosystem and safety.
You may be forgiven for not knowing about Seletar Airport. While Singapore's Changi Airport hogs all the limelight, Seletar isn't a sleepy little airport as one might assume. Opened on February 28th, 1928, under the name RAF Seletar, it primarily handles general aviation and private jets, with a handful of commercial services, and is a hub for maintenance and repair.
It was reported last month that the airport has started hosting some passenger flights again, such as Malaysia Airlines' low-cost offshoot FireFly, which flew its ATR 72 aircraft from Kuala Lumpur.
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For those interested to know more about Singapore's often forgotten airport, Simple Flying published a detailed write-up on Seletar earlier this year.
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Journalist - With a background in publishing and digital media, I like to combine my love for aviation with my passion for storytelling and reporting. I’m a keen observer of ever-changing aviation trends around the world and particularly in India. I also keep a close eye on fleet development of all major carriers and their subsequent impact on regional and international routes. Based in New Delhi, India.
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