The Seletar is a private aviation hub for flying enthusiasts and avid travellers
Shot on location at The Seletar Airport in Singapore.
Southeast Asia is filled with little-known islands and towns that are virtually untouched by tourism. Getting there, however, is another story—we’re talking long transits and bumpy ferry rides, sometimes taking 10 hours to cover a distance that would take one or two by direct flight.
That’s one of the pain points that Lawrence Liaw wants to mitigate with The Seletar, Singapore’s latest (and only) community-focused aviation hub that combines a flying school with a private members’ club, and is built around the idea of shared passion rather than pure convenience.
The Seletar private aviation hub in Singapore. Top: Diamond DA-40 Diamond Star.
“We’re probably the first of our kind in this region,” says Liaw. “The idea is to give people access to hobby and lifestyle flying, rather than simply replacing commercial flights. It’s a different way of travelling—you choose when you fly, use private airports, and move at your own pace.
“Our Diamond aircraft are among the safest around—built on glider principles, they can glide for miles if needed—and they allow access to smaller islands and shorter runways where larger chartered jets simply can’t land.”
The distinction is an important one. While traditional charter aviation prioritises efficiency and scale, The Seletar is designed for hobbyists, flying enthusiasts and avid travellers who value hands-on experiences and a deeper connection to how they travel.
The Seletar features a simulator that recreates the flight experience.
Liaw himself wanted to become a pilot when he was younger, but less-than-perfect eyesight kept him from accomplishing that dream. Instead, he built a successful career in tech, and it was only a few years ago, during the pandemic, that he started learning how to fly propeller planes.
He then came to learn about two plots of land available for sale at Seletar, offering a direct view of the private airport runway. He acquired them in 2021, and slowly realised that Singapore was missing not so much infrastructure, but rather, a community for flying enthusiasts. Singapore’s aviation scene was ripe for disruption. Liaw assembled a fleet of propeller aircraft that he uses both as training planes for flying school students and as charter options for travellers looking to explore the region beyond conventional routes.
He says, “On our planes, you can sit beside the pilot and watch the entire process—take-off, landing, everything. On a charter, you sit behind. That access is a priceless experience.”
Propeller planes also fly beneath the cloud line, unlike commercial aircraft and larger charter jets, offering passengers a closer, more immersive view of the landscape below—coastlines, islands and terrain unfolding in real time.
The hangar features a fleet of propeller planes, including Diamond Aircraft—often referred to as the “Ferraris of the sky”.
Behind the scenes, Liaw’s wider business, Aviation Hub, serves as the umbrella company. It is an authorised distributor and service centre for Diamond Aircraft, and one of a limited number of operators in Singapore licensed for MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul). “It’s more of an enablement for the club itself,” Liaw explains, adding that only a limited number of operators in Singapore hold this licence.
The Seletar will also include a private members’ club, currently under construction. Members will be able to keep their aircraft on-site and fly them out at will, with the option of leasing planes out when not in use—a model that offers both flexibility and an additional revenue stream.
“It’s not a cheap hobby,” Liaw acknowledges. “Singapore is attracting a lot of wealth from all over the region, if not the world. You can buy half a dozen cars if you like, but after a while it’s just cars, it’s just yachts. Flying is different. You see the world from the sky.”
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