Singapore (Singapore)

Singapore is often affected by thunderstorms. They occur predominately during the afternoon, but can occur at any time of the day or night. For the most part these thunderstorms are usually isolated individual cells.

There are a total of four separate airfields and six separate runways within a 25 DME radius of Singapore. Three are at Singapore Changi and there is one runway each at Batam, Paya Lebar, and Johor Baru. The availability of these other airfields so close to Changi can help make fuel planning easier.

• There is an ILS approach to every runway in Singapore. LWMO is available on runway 02L and 20C and autoland is available on all runways.
• Speed control is non-standard and you have to reduce to 250 knots below 10,000 feet within 40 NM of the airfield. Request for high speed are sometimes approved.
• You will normally be given a STAR on initial contact with Singapore Radar. Shortly thereafter you will receive radar vectors for the approach. Full published arrivals are rarely flown.
• From Hong Kong you will be cleared for a PASPU arrival from VEPLI. If runway 20 is in use expect a PASPU 1B [VEPLI.PASP1B]. For runway 02 expect a PASPU 1A [VEPLI.PASP1A]. The 40 NM speed control point occurs just prior to PASPU. {Boeing} You can use the fix page to enter WSSS and a 40 NM ring.
• From Jakarta plan a REMES arrival and from Bangkok you can expect the same PASPU arrival as per an arrival from Hong Kong.
• From Colombo you will be cleared for a BOBAG arrival. Carefully check the track miles on the STAR to make sure that the arrival does not put the aircraft high on profile. Radar vectors can be expected.
• Some of the parking spots are not suitable for the 777-300. See the Jeppesen pages for details.

• For flights to Hong Kong or Bangkok, expect a Mersing departure. There are several MERSING departures, be careful to choose the correct one. Some departures are for normal use and others are for use during an air defense exercise.
• For Jakarta you can expect an ANITO departure. You may be given a crossing altitude at ANITO. {B777} If departing on a northerly runway, you can normally reach FL290 before ANITO. If departing to the south (20C/R) then full climb thrust may be required. Alternatively, tell ATC that you want a lower crossing level. The actual crossing level at ANITO will generally be about 3500 to 4000 feet less than the level shown on legs page.
• There is a bi-directional airway structure between Singapore and Jakarta. The normal routing is B470 VIA PKP. Levels are assigned in 2000 foot increments.
• For flights to Colombo you can expect a PIMOK departure. RVSM is available and you will normally get cleared for FL340 or FL360. Flight level availability is much better on this sector than on the BKK-CMB sector.
• Departures from runway 20 require a climb to 2000 feet by D8 VTK. VTK is several miles north of the field so this position is reached shortly after takeoff. Maintain takeoff speed until reaching 2000'. {Boeing} A good way of managing this is to enter 2000 feet in the FMS for the acceleration height on TAKEOFF page 2.
• {B777} The above restriction can be quite tight. For example a 220 ton aircraft (+30°, variable winds, 1.301 EPR) will pass the restriction waypoint at about 2100 feet.
• {B777} The taxiway leading onto runway 02R is quite short. On the 300, it is better to wait on the parallel taxiway.

• WIDD - Batam (153°/16NM) - Batam is the main alternate for Singapore and is located only 16 miles to the southeast. The airport is not always nominated due to it's limited hours of operation (0000-1400Z, and on request). There is no significant terrain between Singapore and Batam. The highest sector altitude (near Batam) is 2500'.
• WMKK - Kuala Lumpur (301°/159NM) - For the diversion you can expect radar vectors towards VJR followed by VJR-A457-VKL. This route is shown on the Jeppesen 10-1A area chart.
• WSAP - Paya Lebar (271°/5NM) - Paya Lebar is a military airfield located very close to Singapore Changi.
• WMKJ - Johor Baru (312°/23NM)

Taxiing - Be careful when exiting the runway after landing on 20R. When the F/O is flying it can be difficult to see the proper taxi center line across the cockpit when exiting on W7 and turning north onto the parallel taxiway. There is a small filleted area bounded by double yellow edge lines which gets mistaken for the actual taxiway center line. This is particularly true at night. Following the double yellow lines will obviously cause the aircraft to depart the taxiway.

Crosswind Runway 20C - A crosswind from the east can cause considerable turbulence below 50 feet and during the flare manoeuvre due to the row of trees located to the left of the runway. The effect is apparent at wind speeds as low as 10 knots and is most noticeable when the wind is blowing from 120° to 150°. Concentrate on keeping the wings level during the flare. Landing with a small amount of crab is not a problem.

Crosswind Runway 02L - The approach to this runway can also be quite rough in certain conditions. For example a westerly crosswind of 300°/15 will cause some degree of windshear below 500 feet and light turbulence will persist until touchdown.

The reason for the 2000' restriction off RWY 20 is that there is a low level VFR corridor under the extended centreline for military aircraft transitting to and from the training areas to the EAST. For the military aircraft it is called the "Sinjon Crossing".