International Civil Aviation

Singapore joined the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as a Contracting State on 20 May 1966. The ICAO comprises member-governments which agree to abide by set standards and recommended practices to advance civil aviation.

To date, Singapore has taken part in over 100 ICAO expert bodies (holding leadership positions in 18 of them) to help shape international standards on a range of issues such as aviation safety and security, and aviation medicine.

In the Asia-Pacific region, we chair the ICAO Asia and Pacific Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) Committee, which was established in 2023 to enhance collaboration amongst regional ANSPs in the provision of Air Navigation Services to support recovery, meet growing demand, and make air travel more seamless and sustainable. We are also a key member of the ICAO Asia Pacific Air Navigation Planning and Implementation Regional Group and its sub-groups, working with regional states to restructure airways, improve airway capacities, and enhance safety monitoring services.

The Singapore Aviation Academy (SAA), which is the internationally-recognised training arm of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, offers a wide range of operational and management programmes, which are aligned to ICAO’s standards and best practices to meet the training needs of the global aviation community.  

Since its inception, SAA has trained over 110,000 participants from 200 countries and territories. SAA also works with the Singapore Government and international funding agencies to secure training fellowships for developing countries.  

An example is the ICAO-Singapore Developing Countries Training Programme, which was established in 2001 to strengthen international technical cooperation and develop human resources. The programme awards training fellowships and scholarships to applicants nominated by their respective governments to attend specialised training programmes conducted by SAA.