The Singapore government has announced a series of rebates as part of a Stabilisation and Support Package (SSP) intended to help the aviation sector weather the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) will provide a 50% rebate on its regulatory fees for new and renewed Certificates of Airworthiness. The rebate is part of a suite of measures to provide assistance to the aviation sector under the SSP announced by Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance on February 18.
All Singapore carriers pay fees for Certificates of Airworthiness for their aircraft fleet on an annual basis. Singapore carriers operating scheduled flights will benefit from this rebate, which is the CAAS estimates will save carriers about S$6 million in total.
The assistance measures for the aviation sector under the SSP, will be co-funded by the Government, CAAS and the Changi Airport Group (CAG). In a statement CAAS said that the measure was intended to, “help the aviation community defray business costs and protect jobs, as well as safeguard Singapore’s air connectivity amidst the impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 outbreak.”
The news came on the same that that Singapore Airlines announced that it and SilkAir would temporarily reduce services across their European, Asia and US network, in addition to previously announced reductions in services to China and Hong Kong due to weak demand as a result of coronavirus.
The cuts are drastic and include reductions in services to major destinations including London, Los Angles, Tokyo. Full details of the affected flights can be found here.
Singapore Airlines said that it would continue to monitor the situation and make further adjustments as necessary.