CAAS lets aviation companies defer fee payments by a year

THE Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) announced on Thursday that Singapore carriers and the airport operator will be allowed to defer payment of certain fees by up to a year for fees due between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021. 

This will allow the aviation companies to defer about S$140 million worth of fees in total by up to one year, said CAAS in its  statement. 

This applies to the fees for the Certificates of Airworthiness, which all Singapore carriers operating scheduled flights pay for their aircraft fleet, as well as fees for licences to provide air services on scheduled journeys under an air services agreement, said CAAS.

Other fees included in the deferment include fees that the airport operator pays for aerodrome certification and its licence to operate, as well as part of the fees for the provision of air-navigation services.

This follows a Feb 18 announcement that CAAS will provide a 50-per-cent rebate on its regulatory fees for new and renewed Certificates of Airworthiness, which is estimated to save the Singapore carriers about S$6 million in total.

This additional support measure complements the government's enhanced Jobs Support Scheme and the enhanced aviation support package to support the country's aviation sector to ride through the Covid-19 pandemic, said CAAS.