Airports across the world continue to mothball terminals due to the collapsing passenger demand – and Singapore Changi is no exception, with the airport choosing to mothball its Terminal 2 complex.
The great Solari departure board at Changi Terminal 2 – Image, Economy Class and Beyond. §
Operations out of Terminal 2 will be suspended for 18 months, commencing 1st May 2020. The reallocation of airlines that operate out of Terminal 2 will be announced later. Whilst the terminal is mothballed, it will allow for the current T2 expansion works to be accelerated with expected completion, currently scheduled for 2024, brought forward possibly by up to one year.
Meanwhile, the new Terminal 4 is suffering from very low patronage due to the small number of flights operating from it. As such, operations at the terminal have been scaled down considerably with a small number of aircraft boarding gates kept in use and shops allowed to close early after the last flight for the day. If the remaining airlines at T4 choose to suspend or adjust their flight schedule, the airport will also consider suspending operations at T4 temporarily but with the objective of restarting operations quickly when airlines confirm the resumption of flights.
In quotes
Mr Tan Lye Teck, CAG’s Executive Vice President of Airport Management said,
“With airlines suspending flights in response to the sharply reduced travel demand, the consolidation efforts seek to help our airport partners during this difficult time. While the scale of our operations will be reduced in the near term, Changi Airport remains open to serve the airfreight and passenger flights that continue to operate. Even as our airport capacity is being optimised for the current situation, we will have the flexibility and we stand ready to ramp up operations quickly once the recovery takes place.”
Opinion: 18 months is a long time…
Whilst Changi Airport may choose to accelerate the refurbishment and expansion work, it seems that the airport is in this for the medium term at least, and expecting traffic to be low to medium – not necessitating the full force that it can deliver.
For now, consolidated operations are the order of the day a Changi Airport – like a few airports around the world.
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