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| Source: CAG. Changi Airport. |
Changi Airport Group (CAG) announced that in view of the steep decline in passenger traffic and the likelihood that air travel demand will not return to pre-COVID-19 levels in the near term, terminal operations at Changi Airport are to be consolidated. This will enable CAG and its airport partners to save on running costs such as utilities and cleaning as well as to optimise resources across the airport’s terminals.
From 1 May 2020, operations at Terminal 2 (T2) will be suspended for 18 months with airlines to be relocated to the remaining terminals*. This suspension of operations 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, CAG said. CAG is also in discussion with airport partners and concessionaires in T2 regarding options available to them.
Terminal 4 (T4) may also close, CAG said, if the remaining airlines at T4 choose to suspend or adjust their flight schedules, but with the objective of restarting quickly when airlines resume flights. At present, a small number of aircraft boarding gates are in use and shops close after the last flight for the day.
CAG has been in discussion with the concessionaires on assistance measures, and together with partners are identifying retraining and redeployment opportunities for airport staff to protect as many as jobs as possible.
Tan Lye Teck, CAG’s Executive VP, 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.”
*Details of airlines’ relocation to other terminals will be published on the Changi Airport website closer to 1 May 2020.
