Singapore’s Ministry of Transport (MOT) has refuted the assertion of Malaysia’s Ministry of Transport that the implementation of instrument landing system (ILS) procedures for the northerly approach into Singapore’s Seletar Airport violates Malaysia’s sovereignty.
In a media release dated December 12, MOT said the statement by its Malaysian counterpart that “the implementation of ILS procedures for the northerly approach into Seletar Airport is a ‘clear violation of Malaysia sovereignty and international law and standards” is “not true.”
The MOT’s rebuttal came amid the ongoing dispute between the two nations over the use of airspace by Seletar Airport.
The MOT statement elaborated: “The nature of international civil aviation is such that flights have to traverse the airspace of different States. It is not uncommon for flight procedures to/from airports in one State, especially those near other States, to traverse the territories of neighbouring States.”
It said this does not entail a violation of the sovereignty of the states being overflown. “The instrument flight procedures for some Malaysian airports also extend into the territories of neighbouring States,” it added.
MOT said that Singapore respects Malaysia’s sovereignty and that “cross-border airspace management is not incompatible with sovereignty.”
MOT further said Singapore had conveyed at the meeting on November 29, 2018 between the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) and Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) that Singapore would need to put in place instrument flight procedures for both the northerly and southerly approaches into Seletar Airport.
“Flight procedures for both directions are necessary because aircraft land and take off into the wind,” the Singaporean ministry said. “In this region, winds blow from a north-easterly direction for half of the year, and a south-westerly direction for the other half of the year. Therefore, flight procedures for a southerly approach cannot safely replace all flight procedures for the northerly approach.”
Hence, it said, “CAAS explained to CAAM that in addition to the current ILS procedures for the northerly approaches into Seletar Airport, CAAS will also be implementing instrument flight procedures for the southerly approaches.”
MOT continued that Malaysia had agreed to Singapore’s management of the airspace over Southern Johor in 1973 and a bilateral agreement was signed in 1974 to operationalize this agreement.
MOT also said that the ILS procedures for Seletar Airport were published in accordance with Singapore’s responsibilities under the relevant ICAO requirements as well as the bilateral arrangements with Malaysia.
“Singapore had nonetheless consulted Malaysia since December 2017 in the spirit of goodwill. Malaysia has never raised any objections to the existing flight profile in place for Seletar Airport which the ILS procedures adhere to. They provide an additional tool for the safe and efficient operation of aircraft, for the benefit of all.”
MOT in closing said that “in the spirit of cooperation and mutual benefit,” it was prepared to discuss Malaysia’s technical concerns in good faith.
On December 11, Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke posted a video clip on his Facebook page outlining the reasons Malaysia is objecting to Seletar Airport’s ILS procedures.
The video explained that the flight path used by the ILS will encroach into Malaysian airspace, as Seletar Airport is about 2 kilometers away from Pasir Gudang in Johor, Malaysia. The height limits set by the flight path means that buildings and mobile cranes would be in the way of any descending plane’s flight path.
The dispute stems from Singapore’s plan to modernize the airspace management of Seletar Airport in order for the airport to handle more flights in view of the economic growth of the region and increasing number of air travelers.
Photo: aeroprints.com
