Changi Airport has set up a more than US$1 billion (S$1.35 billion) kitty – partly funded by external investors – to fuel ambitious plans to export its technical and operational expertise.

With airports around the world embarking on aggressive expansion and development plans, the fund will help Changi invest in this growth and establish a strong foothold in other markets, Changi Airport Group (CAG) chairman Liew Mun Leong told The Straits Times.

The potential is huge, he said. “We see a lot of airports that need not just funding, but expertise. It’s an infrastructure business that is very promising given the growth of the aviation industry.”

In the last decade, Changi’s foreign investment and consultancy arm, Changi Airports International (CAI), has snared many airport consultancy and development projects in growing aviation markets including China, India, Russia, Brazil, Latin America and the Middle East. From King Fahd International Airport in Saudi Arabia to Italy’s Rome Fiumicino Airport to China’s Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, CAI has left its mark on over 50 airports in more than 20 countries.

But the returns have not been significant, industry analysts said.

While revenue grew from S$18.5 million in the 2012/2013 financial year to S$41 million in the 2015/2016 financial year, high operating costs, including taxes, in an already capital-intensive industry, as well as foreign exchange losses, have put pressure on profits, which fell to just S$6 million during the same period.

By comparison, CAG reported after-tax profits of more than S$780 million in the same year.

But with the new fund, things should start to pick up for CAI, Liew said. “Now that we have more (funds) we can do more,” he said, adding that before this, there were constraints on how funds should be spent. “The Government said ‘we give you money to build Changi Airport, why are you building in Saudi Arabia and Brazil?’ Now we have external funding,” Liew added.

Besides Changi Airport, Malaysia Airports, Germany’s Fraport, Schiphol in the Netherlands and Turkey’s TAV are among the airports that are also keen to spread their wings overseas.

In an annual roundup, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said last week that total passenger traffic grew by 7 per cent last year compared with 2015.

The Asia-Pacific accounted for 35 per cent of the total market, growing 11.3 per cent year on year, while traffic in the Middle East was 9.1 per cent higher. Both are key target regions for CAI, which has a 75 per cent stake in King Abdulaziz International Airport in Saudi Arabia – its biggest investment to date.

On whether there are concerns that CAI’s efforts to help other airports build and operate better could eventually impact Changi’s competitiveness, Liew said: “People ask me this and I tell them that it’s not a zero-sum game.”

Working with airports globally gives the Changi team a better understanding of industry dynamics and challenges, he said.

“We know (first-hand) what’s happening in Brazil, Abu Dhabi, China, India, because we are there, working with them. We see how they operate, how they are growing, the challenges they face,” Liew said, adding that such experiences provide invaluable lessons for the Singapore team.

Such ventures also provide a good opportunity for Changi to work directly with airlines based in overseas markets to promote air links and services to and from Singapore, Liew said.

“At the end of the day, if we can mobilise the competency and expertise of Changi Airport – the best airport in the world – we can make a lot of money,” he said.

The boat was carrying an estimated 50 people when it went down in the estuary of the Naf river that divides the two countries, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) area commander Lieutenant Colonel S.M. Ariful Islam told AFP.

Nearly 200 Rohingya have drowned over the last six weeks making the perilous crossing into Bangladesh, many in small wooden fishing boats that are dangerously overloaded.

They are fleeing violence in Myanmar’s sectarian-plagued Rakhine state where the United Nations has accused troops of waging an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Islam said the bodies of the eight confirmed victims had washed up on the river banks, while 21 survivors had swum to safety.

“Eight people were killed. The majority were children,” he said, adding the small fishing trawler was overloaded with refugees desperate to escape.

Coast and border guards were conducting a search and rescue operation in the Naf river, he said.

More than half a million Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh over the last seven weeks to escape a military crackdown that the the UN has said amounts to ethnic cleansing.

The stateless Muslim minority has faced decades of persecution in mainly Buddhist Myanmar.

The latest influx began in late August after attacks by Rohingya militants on police posts in Myanmar.

Another border guard told AFP the boat sank was just 200 yards (metres) from the Bangladesh coast when it sank in rough waters.

Fazlul Haq, a local official, said the boat was owned by a Bangladeshi villager who had made large amounts of money ferrying Rohingya into the country.

He said the small fishing trawlers were highly vulnerable to accidents as they approached the shore, where they are often battered by large waves.

Refugees are often charged exorbitant fees for the trip.

The latest accident came a week after another boat packed with Rohingya refugees capsized in the area, killing at least 34 people.

Air Asia said the plane suffered a “technical issue” with Australian media reporting that the aircraft had to quickly drop from 32,000 feet (9,753 metres) to 10,000 feet 25 minutes after take-off.

Video circulating online shows distressed passengers wearing oxygen masks with an alarm blaring and AirAsia staff calling for people to assume the brace position.

“I picked up my phone and sent a text message to my family, just hoping that they would get it,” one tearful passenger named Leah told Channel Nine television. “It was horrible.”

Another holidaymaker said not knowing what was going on heightened fears.

“We didn’t know what was happening because all the voice recordings on the plane were in every language but English,” she said.

AirAsia apologised for the scare, blaming a “technical issue” without elaborating on the cause.

“The safety of passengers and crew is our priority,” the budget airline said in a statement.

“AirAsia apologises to passengers for any inconvenience caused.”

Several flights have been forced back to Australia in recent months, including an AirAsia Gold Coast to Kuala Lumpur service in July that the carrier said involved a suspected bird strike.

A Qantas flight enroute to Dallas returned to Sydney in September after the wing flaps could not be retracted, while a Johannesburg-bound plane turned back to Sydney in the same week when a crack in the windscreen was discovered.

Security analysts describe Hapilon as the leader of the Islamic State group in Southeast Asia, where the jihadist outfit wants to establish a caliphate as they suffer battlefield defeats in Iraq and Syria.

“(Our troops) were able to get Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute. They were both killed,” Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters, referring to another fighter who led the attack with Hapilon on the southern Philippines city of Marawi city in May.

The US government had offered an $5 million bounty for information leading to Hapilon’s arrest, describing the 51-year-old as a senior leader of the southern Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf group, which the US considers a “foreign terrorist organisation”.

Lorenzana said Philippine ground forces mounting a final assault on the militants in Marawi killed Hapilon and Omarkhayam Maute, one of two brothers who lead a militant group allied to Hapilon, early Monday.

The bodies of the two men will be subjected to DNA tests because of the reward offer from the US and Philippine governments, he added.

“The implication of this development is that the Marawi incident is almost over and we may announce the termination of hostilities in a couple of days,” Lorenzana said.

The Philippine military says Hapilon joined forces with the Maute group on May 23 on a rampage across Marawi following a foiled attempt to arrest him.

Pro-IS gunmen occupied parts of Marawi, the Islamic capital of the mainly Catholic Philippines, on May 23.

Since then more than 1,000 people had been killed and 400,000 residents displaced.

Hapilon is also accused of involvement in the 2001 kidnappings including of three Americans, two of whom were later killed.

Troops were still pursuing Malaysian militant leader Mahmud Ahmad in the Marawi battle zone, Lorenzana said. Ahmad had helped plan the Marawi attack, authorities had said.

The insurgents have withstood a relentless US-backed bombing campaign and intense ground battles with troops that have left large parts of Marawi resembling devastated cities in war-torn Syria and Iraq.

In the last seven weeks, more than half a million Rohingya have fled Rakhine and crossed into neighbouring Bangladesh, shocking the globe with accounts of Myanmar soldiers and Buddhist mobs murdering and raping civilians before torching their villages to the ground.

The western region descended into chaos when Rohingya militants attacked Myanmar police posts on August 25, triggering the brutal military crackdown.

The latest UN probe accused Myanmar’s military of leading a “systematic” effort to expel the maligned minority and block their return to the mainly Buddhist country.

The army, which has a long history of “scorched-earth” counter-insurgency campaigns, has steadfastly denied the charges — while also blocking independent access to the conflict zone.

It is now preparing to publish results of its own internal investigation into the conflict, according to statements released Friday.

“An investigation team led by Defence Services Inspector General Lt-Gen Aye Win is inspecting security forces and military units (to see) whether they perform the assigned duties or not,” said a statement from the army’s “True News Information Team.”

“When full information is received, the official press release will be released,” it added.

A separate post published on the army chief’s Facebook page suggested troops would be cleared of abuses, saying: “it was found that all actions conformed to the law.”

“A lot of witnesses were questioned. Investigations were carried out as to how such incidents happened, how many casualties there were and whether or not those incidents were in line with the law,” the post on General Min Aung Hlaing’s Facebook page said.

Myanmar’s military ruled the country through a brutal dictatorship for five decades until 2011, when it initiated a transition to partial democracy.

Two years ago it allowed free elections that swept former democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi to victory in a power-sharing arrangement that still hands the military control over security policy.

The army was widely loathed by the Burmese people during its ruthless 50-year reign, a tenure marked by countless allegations of rights abuses and total impunity for soldiers.

But its current campaign against the Rohingya has received widespread public support from a Buddhist population that believes the stateless Muslim minority are illegal immigrants.

The army chief has continued to push this view with regular Facebook posts describing the Rohingya as “Bengalis” with no claim to live in Rakhine, despite their long roots in the region.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace prize laureate, has sparked international dismay for her perceived lack of sympathy towards the Rohingya and unwillingness to condemn alleged atrocities by the army.

Joshua James Baker was detained after arriving at Bali’s Ngurah Rai airport from Bangkok on October 8 when Indonesian police found drugs in his luggage.

“He had 28 grammes of marijuana and 37 diazepam pills,” Bali police spokesman Hengky Widjaja said.

But Baker slipped away when he was led to a toilet for a urine test on Monday, climbing through a ventilation shaft to make his getaway.

Police soon became suspicious of his long bathroom break and launched a manhunt when they realised he had escaped. They found him around 10 hours later in the beach village of Canggu.

Baker is charged with drug possession and faces a minimum of five years in prison if convicted.

Indonesia has some of the world’s toughest drugs laws, with sentences including the death penalty available for smugglers who carry five or more grammes.

Several foreign and Indonesian nationals have been convicted to death by firing squad in recent years including Australian Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, a case that sparked diplomatic outrage and a call to abolish the penalty.

Nevertheless foreigners are regularly caught trying to bring drugs into Bali, a tropical resort island that attracts millions of tourists each year.

He issued the warning on state television late Friday as he railed against the press, European lawmakers and other critics of his drug war that has left thousands dead and led rights groups to warn of a crime against humanity.

Duterte said he would resort to a revolutionary government, as opposed to martial law that would require congressional approval, if communists and other opponents tried to destabilise his rule.

“If your destabilisation is taking place and there is chaos already, I will not hesitate to declare a revolutionary government until the end of my term and I will arrest all of you and we can go to a full-scale war against the reds,” Duterte said, in reference to communist rebels who have waged a nearly 50-year insurgency.

Duterte alleged the US Central Intelligence Agency was part of a plot to destabilise him, and warned he would jail all of his opponents as well as the communist leaders.

“I will declare a revolutionary government, you are all arrested. I am not scaring people, just remember that,” he said.

Duterte cited the precedent set by Corazon Aquino, who established a revolutionary government soon after leading a “People Power” uprising in 1986 that ended the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.

Aquino sacked all elected officials, abolished Congress and tore up the 1973 constitution in favour of a provisional charter.

But she then ensured a new constitution was written and stepped aside after elections in 1992. She is revered by many Filipinos who see her as a heroine of democracy.

To prevent a recurrence of a dictatorship, the post-Aquino constitution limited presidents to a single term of six years.

– Dictatorship fears –

Duterte’s critics fear the 72-year-old, who has repeatedly threatened to impose martial law, is intent on dragging the country back into dictatorship and allow himself more freedom in prosecuting his drug war.

“Definitely, what it all means is that he alone will rule and we’re going back to the Marcos dictatorship,” said former House of Representatives member Neri Colmenares, a member of the leftist Bayan Muna (Nation First) party.

Colmenares told AFP the revolutionary government threat was part of Duterte’s “established pattern of intolerance to dissenting voices and his belief that brute force will solve all problems”.

One of Duterte’s fiercest critics, Senator Leila de Lima, is in jail on drug trafficking charges she and rights groups say are trumped to silence her.

Duterte has vowed to “destroy” another senator who is critical of him, while his allies in Congress are seeking to impeach the Supreme Court chief justice after she criticised parts of the drug war.

Duterte this week threatened to send home all European ambassadors because he believed they were criticising the drug war, although his spokesman later said the president incorrectly based his assumptions on media reports.

Duterte was elected last year largely on an incendiary law-and-order platform in which he promised to eradicate illegal drugs in society by killing 100,000 people.

Since he took office 15 months ago, police have reported killing 3,850 people in anti-drug operations while thousands of others have been murdered in unexplained circumstances.

Many Filipinos continue to support Duterte, seeing the charismatic politician as a saviour fighting corruption and crime. He still enjoys overwhelming support in both houses of Congress.

But opposition has started to build, with the influential Catholic Church and leftist groups taking a prominent role in speaking out against his drug war.

The Philippine military, which backed Marcos until the last days of his dictatorship, did not respond to AFP’s request for comment on Duterte’s warning, while congressional leaders could not be reached for comment.

Asked for comment, Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te told AFP on Saturday: “We don’t comment on political statements.”

The US navy said Friday that a US aircraft carrier will lead the drill in the coming week, a fresh show of force against North Korea as tensions soar over the hermit state’s weapons programme.

The move will likely rile Pyongyang which has previously responded angrily to joint exercises.

The Donga Ilbo daily, quoting a government source, said satellite pictures show ballistic missiles mounted on launchers being transported out of hangars near Pyongyang and in the North Phyongan Province.

US and South Korean military officials suspect the North might be preparing to launch missiles capable of reaching US territory, the newspaper said.

This could be the Hwasong-14 inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM), whose range could extend to Alaska, or Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missiles which Pyongyang threatened to fire towards the US Pacific territory of Guam in August, the report said.

Another possibility is that the North might be preparing to test a new Hwasong-13 ICBM, it added, that has a longer maximum range than the other two missiles and could potentially reach the US West Coast.

A defence ministry spokesman declined to comment on the report, saying: “We don’t comment on any matters of military intelligence”.

“We are keeping a close watch over the North,” he added.

The joint drills led by the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier come after hectic US military hardware movements around the Korean peninsula in recent days.

These follow a flurry of missiles from Pyongyang, which conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test last month in defiance of international sanctions.

On Friday the nuclear-powered USS Michigan submarine arrived at the southern South Korean port of Busan, just days after another nuclear-powered submarine — the USS Tuscon — left after a five day visit.

Earlier this week the US flew two supersonic heavy bombers over the Korean peninsula, staging the first night-time joint aviation exercises with Japan and South Korea.

That mission came 17 days after four US F-35B stealth fighter jets and two B-1Bs flew over the peninsula.

Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies said it was “highly likely” that the North could launch missiles in response to next week’s joint navy drill.

US President Donald Trump’s continued threats of military action against Pyongyang if it does not tame its weapons ambitions have fuelled fears of conflict on the Korean peninsula.

But military intervention against North Korea would have “devastating consequences”, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned Friday, after Trump said diplomatic efforts had failed.

Annan, who led an advisory commission to the Myanmar government, said world powers must work with the country’s military and civilian leaders to end the refugee crisis.

The Security Council is weighing action, possibly a resolution laying out demands, but diplomats have said China, a supporter of Myanmar’s former ruling junta, and Russia are opposed to such a measure.

“I hope the resolution that comes out urges the government to really press ahead and create conditions that would allow the refugees to return with dignity and with a sense of security,” Annan told reporters after a closed-door meeting with the council.

“They should not be returned to camps. They should help rebuild,” he said.

More than 500,000 people, mostly Rohingyas, have since late August crossed into Bangladesh, fleeing military operations in Myanmar’s Rakhine state that the United Nations has denounced as ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar authorities say they are rooting out Rohingya militants following attacks on police posts in late August.

The issue of the return of the Rohingyas is shaping up as a major hurdle.

A recent report by the UN human rights office accused Myanmar of seeking to permanently expel the Rohingya, by planting land mines at the border with Bangladesh.

“The international community is now beginning to put pressure on the military,” Annan said, adding that “military-to-military talks” were aimed at pressing Myanmar to rein in its operations.

He called on the council to agree with Myanmar on a “roadmap” and warned that without action “we are going to have a long-term festering problem” in the region that “can be very serious, down the line.”

In late August, Annan presented the final report of the advisory commission on Rakhine state that he chaired at the request of Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The report called for granting citizenship and other rights to the Rohingyas, who are stateless and have long faced discrimination in the Buddhist-majority nation.

The UN’s top political affairs chief, Jeffrey Feltman, traveled to Myanmar on Friday for talks.