Seletar Aerospace Park redevelopment on track

Phase 1 nearly complete, Phase 2 progressing well, says JTC chief

THE redevelopment of the 300-hectare Seletar Aerospace Park is on schedule despite a slump in the global aviation industry.

JTC Corp's CEO Ow Foong Pheng said the developers of the aerospace park, led by JTC, would press on with infrastructural works to ensure that they are ready for customers' operations as soon as the economy picks up.

Speaking at the groundbreaking of a new $6 million jet fuel depot on a 1.07 ha plot adjacent to the extended runway at the West Camp area, Ms Ow said that Phase 1 of the redevelopment was nearly complete and Phase 2 was progressing well.

'JTC has also worked with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore to extend the tenancies for existing companies at the East Camp of Seletar, while JTC develops facilities to house them in the long term,' she said.

'The facilities will include a Business Aviation Complex, which we will start constructing by the end of the year, and a Component MRO & Manufacturing facility that will provide ready-built space for aerospace companies.'

JTC is also in consultation with several industry players to build a shared hangar facility at SAP.

'Companies will be able to tap on this shared hangar as and when they need it,' Ms Ow said. 'This will enable them to save on the need to invest in fixed infrastructure and enjoy operational cost savings in the long run.'

It is envisaged that a private sector player will build, operate and lease out the hangar space.
The new Seletar Fuel Depot is ST-Airport Services Pte Ltd's (Stars) fourth venture, after existing operations in East Timor, the Singapore Armed Forces and its joint venture in Bangalore, India.
Stars is two-thirds owned by Toll Asia Pte Ltd, with BP as its minority partner. Toll, one of Australia's leading logistics company with annual revenues of A$6.5 billion, recently embarked on its $400 million Toll Offshore Petroleum Services support base in Loyang.

Its new fuel depot at Seletar effectively doubles the capacity at the facility to some 300,000 litres of jet fuel. This can be expanded to 500,000 litres to cater for increasing traffic as the new aerospace park increases.

Source: Business Times, 4 June 2009