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Seletar Air Base

Spanning 160 hectares in the north eastern part of Singapore, Seletar Airport is managed by Changi Airport Group and is home to international aircraft charters, private flights, medical evacuation, maintenance, repair and overhauls as well as freighter operations. In 1923, the British developed this area to house a Royal Air Force (RAF) station that served Singapore from 1928 to 1971. To house RAF personnel and their families, numerous black and white bungalows were built with the help of Samsui women (female Chinese immigrants who took on construction jobs), who were also known to the British as “Concrete Lizzies”.

Today, Seletar Airport operates as a general aviation airport for chartered flights and training purposes. Of the former colonial houses, 32 have been slated for conservation and redevelopment as part of The Oval at Seletar Aerospace Park. The new lifestyle enclave plays host to bazaars and carnivals, with the conserved bungalows now housing restaurants, spas and shops. The transformation begins with four food and beverage tenants that are shaking up the Singaporean food scene in their own way: from a European chef highlighting local and regional produce in his dishes, to a traditional Teochew (Chinese dialect group) restaurant with over 30 years of heritage.

Singapore’s first airport was the Seletar Royal Air Force Station (RAF Seletar). Completed in 1928, it was the first British Royal Air Force base located east of India, and served as the headquarters of the RAF Far East Command. Seletar Airport was completed by the British just before the Second World War, when it served as a military base.

Military air bases such as RAF Seletar were important for the protection of British commercial interests during that time. In 1924, the annual value of trade by British vessels in the area protected by Singapore was estimated at £890,000,000.

Apart from military aircraft, RAF Seletar catered to Singapore’s civil aviation needs. However, it was a modest airport, and its relatively distant location — 15 miles (~24 km) north of the island’s city center — made it inconvenient for operators and passengers alike. These drawbacks were compounded by the lack of good land transportation access to the area.

In 1968, it was handed over to the then Department Of Civil Aviation (DCA) to manage. DCA became a statutory board known as the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, which continued to manage the airport until the formation of Changi Airport Group on 1 July 2009.

Some 30 global aerospace companies such as Bombardier, Execujet, Fokker Services Asia, Hawker Pacific, Jet Aviation, MAJ Aviation, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, and ST Aerospace have Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul operations at Seletar Airport. These companies have extensive facilities and hangars that provide aircraft maintenance, servicing for narrow-body aircraft and business jets as well as components. Seletar Airport aids such businesses through the facilitation of operations and and provision of facilities such as the Engine-Run Bays.

On 19 November 2018 Seletar Airport started operations at its new passenger terminal. All operations had been transferred from the old terminal, situated at the west of the Seletar aerodrome, to the new one at the east. The new passenger terminal welcomed its first passengers today through the business aviation wing of the terminal. The new terminal was also ready to handle scheduled commercial flights and all scheduled turboprop flights in Singapore had to operate from the new terminal from 1 December 2018.

Seletar Airport is also an integral part of the Seletar Aerospace Park, which is an integrated and efficient industrial space for aerospace activities. Seletar Airport provides the connectivity and backbone infrastructure to support the growth of the Seletar Aerospace Park.