Operating to Singapore’s Seletar Airport (WSSL) will soon become more challenging. Effective Jan. 1, 2019, Singapore Civil Aviation will implement a new noise abatement curfew at the airport. The curfew is in response to noise complaints from local residents. Read below for all the details on how this curfew could impact your mission.

1. New Seletar night curfew hours

Seletar’s noise abatement night curfew goes into effect Jan. 1, 2019 and restricts operations to the airport between 1400-2300 UTC.

2. Are there any exceptions to the curfew?

The curfew will be strictly enforced for all flights with the only exceptions being medevac and emergency flights.

3. Pre-planning more important than ever

With the new night curfew, it is now more important than ever that operators give themselves ample pre-planning time before a mission to Seletar. Currently, only GA traffic use WSSL, but this will change with the expected introduction of commercial turboprop operations. Operators should prepare for taxi and/or runway delays due to training hour restrictions and commercial turboprop operations.

4. New Seletar Business Aviation Centre

Universal Aviation Singapore has teamed up with SATS Ltd and Jet Aviation to leverage our combined expertise to operate a new terminal for private jets at the airport and give private jet passengers an exclusive environment for fuss-free travel.

The new Business Aviation Centre, set to open at the end of 2018, is luxuriously furnished, will have a reception area, security screening, and lounge to provide operators with personalized service from arrival to departure. Read more in the official press release here.

The Business Aviation Centre is shared by all ground handlers. Delays in clearing customs and immigration may be expected as the centre can only accommodate one movement at a time.

5. Slots on the horizon

Although nothing has been officially announced, we anticipate that sometime in the future Seletar will require slots. We will continue to monitor this and will publish a blog article as soon as this becomes official.

Conclusion

With the new night curfew at Seletar, operators will need to ensure they plan their schedules in advance with sufficient buffers, as the curfew combined with new commercial traffic and training flights will decrease flexibility.