By Toh Ee Ming

Copyright channelnewsasia

Imagine slipping into a dual-controlled cockpit. Hands on the controls, with a professional pilot beside you, you nudge the aircraft into take off. The plane skims just beneath the clouds, tracing coastlines, hills and hidden islands.

This is the appeal of lifestyle aviation, a concept that sits apart from both commercial flights and private jets. Where airliners fly high and fast between major airports, propeller planes cruise lower and slower, often landing on short or even unpaved runways. Members share aircraft with friends or fellow travellers, embarking on curated excursions and multi-stop journeys to destinations across Southeast Asia that lie beyond the reach of conventional flights.

Such clubs are more common overseas — in the United States, Australia and Europe — but in Singapore, the idea is still new. Entrepreneur Lawrence Liaw is introducing this novel concept through The Seletar, the city-state’s first lifestyle aviation club. His model combines bespoke leisure travel, flight training and plane ownership under one aspirational umbrella — pitched squarely at high-net-worth individuals and corporate clients seeking exploration, adventure and community.