Executive Travel: Singapore
Private Aviation
Michelle Seaton
09/01/2005

As a portal to asia, the island nation of Singapore provides an excellent base of operations for businesspeople utilizing private aircraft. Located between Malaysia and Indonesia, Singapore is near several regional business centers. For example, a flight in a midsize private jet from Singapore to Hong Kong, Manila or Macau is shorter than a flight from Los Angeles to Chicago. In a large business jet, a traveler can reach virtually any destination in the Far East nonstop, including Japan and Taiwan. Long-range jets can also reach parts of Australia, New Zealand and India. In fact, Singapore easily rivals Hong Kong as a travel hub. Moreover, it has earned a much better reputation as a friendly environment for business travelers.
 
With a land mass only 31¼2 times the size
of Washington, D.C., Singapore is small enough that it needs just two airports to serve travelers.
Because many countries in this part of the world are small and share borders, pilots should be meticulous about securing overflight permissions to fly into the airspace of any country along the planned route before leaving on a trip to the region. A flight from the U.S. to Singapore, for example, may require permissions from China, North Korea, Russia and/or India, depending on the chosen route. If flight plans are unpredictable or if you plan to make side trips from Singapore, you or your pilot will need to work with an international handler that has experience securing these permissions on short notice. Several multinational companies have excellent reputations for planning international flights for private jets.
 
While Baseops International (800.333.3563, www.baseops.com) and Air Routing International (713.430.7200, www.airrouting.com) are both well able to help plan a trip to this region, Universal Airways (800.231.5600, www.univ-wea.com) boasts the best reputation in Asia. Universal Airways, also called Universal Weather and Aviation, has long-standing connections with every country in the region, and its staff has been known to perform minor miracles with local bureaucrats. Ideally, you should plan to give any trip-planning service four to five days to secure the many overflight permissions needed for a trip. On a trip from North America to Singapore, travelers must also consider the number of crew members needed for the flight. Normally two sets of pilots and an intermediate stop for refueling and changing crews are required.

Finally, you will need to choose a port of entry. With a land mass only 31¼2 times the size of Washington, D.C., Singapore is small enough that it needs just two airports to serve travelers. The two—Changi and Seletar—are vastly different in terms of size, style and the ability to accommodate private jets; neither is all things to all travelers. Business travelers with strong business ties to several countries in Southeast Asia and those who want to base a plane in this region will likely make ample use of both airports. Travelers should become familiar with both.

Changi Airport
Changi is Singapore’s commercial hub. Constructed on a landfill on the eastern tip of the island, Changi’s two runways have instrument landing systems and are long enough for the largest commercial or business jets to take off fully loaded with fuel.
 
But pilots who flew routinely to Singapore in the 1980s and 1990s are generally reluctant to land at Changi because handlers there have had a reputation for ignoring private jets in favor of the many regular commercial flights. Once on the tarmac, these business jets had to negotiate a maze of taxiways to deplane passengers at a location that was inconvenient to the terminal. Also, there was no facility
for securing a private jet at Changi overnight—or even for a few hours.

In the past three years, however, Changi officials have worked hard to change the airport’s reputation among private jet pilots in hopes of attracting more business travelers. The airport has set aside an area for private jet passengers to disembark. Cars wait to take them to the terminal, where the airport has created a special lounge area called the Business Aviation Centre. Here passengers on private flights can pass through VIP customs and hold business meetings in relative privacy. To use the business center, travelers must make advance reservations (+65.6541.2107) and pay a $1,000 fee. For additional ground handling services, including catering and ground transportation, travelers can contact Changi International Airport Services at +65.6511.0288, www.cias.com.sg.

Seletar Airport
Seletar is the smaller of Singapore’s two airports and is located in the north-central part of the island. Because this airport is dedicated to private aircraft, it is the first choice for most pilots. Seletar has no instrument approach system, however, which can be a hindrance during poor weather conditions. Seletar has a single 5,000-foot runway, which is long enough for large business jets to land, but too short for many larger jets to take off with a full load of fuel. Those who fly in a Gulfstream IV or V or in a Boeing Business Jet for a long-range trip must get permission to reposition to Changi the day of departure to take on fuel and use its longer runway.

Despite these inconveniences, Seletar offers every other service that private travelers might need. In addition, the airport is small enough that the fixed-base operators all know each other and their customers. As a result, security is a relatively minor issue. Several fixed-base operators provide 24-hour customs, ground handling and hangar facilities, maintenance, catering, aircraft cleaning and ground transportation. These providers work comfortably with each other, so if you want one company to handle maintenance and another to provide fuel, feathers will not get ruffled.


Charter and Service Organizations

Jet Aviation
+65.6481.5311
www.jetaviation.com
As Seletar’s premier handling and maintenance facility, the company manages and maintains Gulfstreams, Falcons, Challengers, Learjets, Hawkers and Citations. Many charter providers throughout the region send their planes to this company for maintenance. In addition, the company has a hangar large enough to accommodate a Gulfstream V or several smaller aircraft. Jet Aviation can also secure overflight permissions throughout the region and provide assistance in planning trips.

Pacific Flight Services Pte
+65.6481.3756
www.fly-pfs.com
This Australian company offers two Learjets licensed through Australia for private charter from Seletar. The company also offers maintenance and ground handling services.

ShareJet
+65.6428.9106
www.sharejet.biz
This Guam-based charter provider has offices in many airports in the region, including Jakarta, Macau, Kuala Lampur, Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as Tokyo, Seoul and mainland China. As a result, the pilots and crews have a great familiarity with all of these airports and the legal quirks of flying in and out of them. ShareJet can also provide ground handling services and other assistance at many of these airfields. The company keeps its Boeing Business Jet in Guam, but has a Gulfstream IV and a Falcon 50 in Singapore.

Jet Asia
+853.861.116 or, in the U.S., 888.JETASIA
www.jetasia.com
This charter company does not have a base in Singapore. Instead, it operates two Challenger 601 jets out of Macau and Bangkok.