New institute to tackle air traffic congestion

Changi Airport will get a boost when a new research institute starts work to help better manage the congested skies here.

The Air Traffic Management Research Institute, which will be officially launched by the start of next year, will zoom in on ways to handle the increasingly crowded and complex air traffic conditions faced by the airport.

These could lead to air traffic controllers being able to minimise flight disruptions caused by adverse weather and reduce the distance between aircraft in the air.

This will, in turn, help expand Changi's aircraft handling capacity by some 40 per cent, in line with projections that air traffic will grow 4 per cent to 5 per cent a year in the next 10 years.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) inked an agreement on Tuesday with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to set up the institute.

Last Wednesday, CAAS said it will pump in $50 million while NTU will make a $22 million in-kind contribution over the next five years. The money will fund postgraduate projects chosen in the next six months.

Research will focus on weather forecasting and information management, air-to-ground traffic management, devising safe, efficient aircraft-to-aircraft separation methods, increasing automation and reducing human error.

NTU deputy president and provost Freddy Boey said possible tie-ups could include the US Federal Aviation Authority and renowned schools such as Technical University Munich and Georgia Institute of Technology.

The research institute will draw air traffic management researchers and those who run airport operations. While it will take time to yield results, CAAS assistant director-general Soh Poh Theen hopes to see some "quick wins or successes for operational efficiency" that can be applied in Changi's daily operations.

Breakthroughs can be shared with other Asia-Pacific countries, cementing Singapore's status as an air traffic management hub, said CAAS director-general Yap Ong Heng.

Research efforts to upgrade Singapore's long-term, air traffic management are taking off at a time when CAAS is putting in place moves to increase air traffic capacity to meet Changi's needs.

The research institute is also part of Singapore's efforts to plough $200 million into air traffic management research.

SOURCE

Good initiative by CAAS to set up the institute. It is also good news for fellow aviation enthusiasts to enroll themselves into the institute by NTU to help further boost the sector. Air traffic in Singapore is only going to get more congested, with the forth terminal to be completed in 2017.