Indonesian Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi and his Singaporean counterpart, Chee Hong Tat, discussed potential cooperation in tackling aviation emissions and reducing carbon emissions from airport operations in Singapore on Tuesday.
“We discussed the possibility of working together to build a more environmentally friendly aviation fuel replacement refinery in Indonesia. That way, Indonesia will participate in overcoming carbon emissions from aviation,” Sumadi said in a statement from his ministry on the same day.
The Singaporean government has decided to impose aircraft levies on all passengers flying from Singapore starting in 2026. The fee will be used to support the use of environmentally friendly aircraft fuel.
During their meeting, the two ministers also discussed the possibility of opening flight routes from Singapore to several Indonesian tourist destinations, besides Bali and Jakarta.
Opening new routes has great potential for development, Sumadi said, “I will encourage and prioritize flights from Singapore to tourism destinations in Indonesia, which are in line with the Bilateral Air Services Agreement between Indonesia and Singapore as well as the ASEAN Open Sky Agreement,” he added.
He invited Singapore to invest in building a transit-oriented development (TOD) area that synergizes with mass rapid transit (MRT) in Jakarta.
