Airspace Row: Singapore says it informed Malaysia on the ILS procedures

Malaysia has been informed about Singapore's need to put in place instrument flight procedures for both the northern and southern approaches to its Seletar Airport, the republic's Ministry of Transport (Singapore MoT) said.

A statement released by Singapore MOT last night said it conveyedthe matter to Malaysia during a meeting between the civil aviation authorities of the two countries on Nov 29, according to Free Malaysia Today.

“Flight procedures for both directions are necessary because aircraft land and take off into the wind. In this region, winds blow from a north-easterly direction for half of the year and from the south-westerly direction during the other half of the year.

“Therefore, flight procedures for a southerly approach cannot safely replace all flight procedures for the northerly approach.

“Hence, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) explained to the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) that in addition to the current Instrument Landing System (ILS) procedures for the northerly approaches into Seletar Airport, CAAS will also be implementing instrument flight procedures for the southerly approaches,” the statement said, as quoted by the news portal.

The Singapore MoT statement came in response to an earlier statement by the Malaysian MoT, which said that the tension between the two countries was unnecessary and could be avoided by implementing the new ILS procedures for Runway 03 on the southern side of Seletar Airport, instead of its northern side.

"MoT Malaysia is fully convinced that with some creativity, the new ILS procedures for Runaway 03 on the southern side of Seletar Airport, which was guaranteed by CAAS during the meeting with CAAM on Nov 29, 2018, would not impose any additional impact on other airspace users, businesses and residents in Singapore," the Malaysian MoT statement said. - Mkini