Changi Airport

Singapore Changi Airport, Changi International Airport, or simply Changi Airport, is the main airport in Singapore. A major aviation hub in Southeast Asia, it is about 17.2 kilometres (10.7 mi) north-east from the commercial centre in Changi, on a 13 square kilometres (5.0 sq mi) site.

The airport, operated by the Changi Airport Group, is the home base of Singapore Airlines, Singapore Airlines Cargo, SilkAir, Tiger Airways, Jetstar Asia Airways, Valuair, and Jett8 Airlines Cargo. As of September 2010, Changi Airport serves 96 airlines flying off to some 200 cities in about 60 countries and territories worldwide. The airport is a secondary hub for Qantas, which uses Singapore as the main stopover point for flights on the Kangaroo Route between Australia and Europe. Qantas is the largest foreign airline to operate from the airport, with over two million passengers annually. An important contributor to the Singapore economy, more than 28,000 people are employed at the airport, which accounts for over S$4.5 billion in output.

In 2009, the airport handled 37,203,978 passengers, a 1.3% decrease over the 2008 fiscal year. This made it the 21st busiest airport in the world and the fifth busiest in Asia by passenger traffic in 2009. In addition to being an important passenger hub, the airport is one of the busiest cargo airports in the world, handling 1.63 million tons of cargo in 2009.

At 15 December 2010, annual passengers surpassed 40 million for the first time. The biggest source of passengers come from Indonesia and then Australia, Malaysia, China and Thailand respectively.

Incentives such as the Air Hub Development Fund, first introduced in 2003, have proven effective in attracting airlines. A new S$300 million fund to strengthen Changi’s hub status began in 2007 when the previous S$210 million fund expired. A new S$1.75 billion Terminal 3 opened on 9 January 2008. Terminal 1 will be upgraded along the lines of the renovated Terminal 2, with the latter costing S$240 million. Changi has been courting both premium and budget travellers with the opening of a “commercially important persons terminal” by JetQuay and a S$45 million Budget Terminal in 2006.

Since its opening in 1981, the airport has made its mark in the aviation industry as a benchmark for service excellence, winning over 340 awards in a 22-year period from 1987 to 2009, including 27 ‘Best’ awards in 2009 alone. Changi Airport’s efforts to counter the onset of age include periodic physical upgrades to its existing terminals, building of new facilities and the provision of a high level of customer service.

Passenger terminals

Changi Airport currently has five terminals, T1, T2, T3, JetQuay CIP Terminal and Budget Terminal, with a total handling capacity of 73 million. Terminals 1, 2 and 3 are directly connected with a common transit area, with airside passengers being able to freely move between the terminals without going through immigration. Transport within and between these three terminals is provided by people movers and the skytrain system, although it is also possible to walk between the terminals on foot for landside visitors. Situated beside Terminal 2 is JetQuay, which has its own check-in facilities for premium passengers and where transportation to aircraft in any of the other terminals is by personal buggy. The Budget Terminal, purpose-built for low-cost carriers, is physically separated from the main terminals towards the south, where connections are possible via a zero-fare shuttle bus service to Terminal 2.

Other Information

• Airport type : Public/Military
• Owner : Government of Singapore
• Operator : Changi Airport Group (S) Pte Ltd, Republic of Singapore Air Force
• Serves : Singapore
• Location : Changi, East Region
• Hub for : Jetstar Asia Airways, Silkair, Singapore Airlines, Tiger Airways, Qantas, Valuair
• Elevation AMSL : 7 m / 22 ft

Link

• www.changiairport.com