Singapore's Changi Airport Terminal 2 to fully reopen in October, ahead of schedule

SINGAPORE: The northern wing of Changi Airport's Terminal 2 will reopen by October 2023 - a few months ahead of schedule, said Transport Minister S Iswaran on Wednesday (May 3).

In a speech at the Changi Airline Awards event to thank the airport's airline partners, he said the faster-than-expected reopening of Terminal 2's northern wing, originally slated for next year, will increase the total handling capacity of Changi Airport by 20 million to 90 million passengers a year. 

This will surpass the airport's pre-COVID total handling capacity of 85 million, Mr Iswaran said.

Terminals 1, 3 and 4 have fully reopened, while arrival operations at Terminal 2 resumed in May 2022 and departures in October that year, after a two-year closure due to upgrading works and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

When the northern wing reopens, travellers can look forward to new amenities as well as retail and food and beverage offerings, Mr Iswaran said.

The minister was also upbeat on the growth in passenger traffic at Changi Airport, from 40 per cent of 2019 levels in May last year to over 82 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in March.

"Based on the current trajectory, passenger traffic at Changi Airport should return to pre-COVID levels by next year or possibly sooner," he said.

While other airports have had issues ramping up handling capacity as air travel resumed, operations carried on relatively smoothly at Changi Airport, leading Mr Iswaran to pay tribute to the workers for making adjustments to keep the "ecosystem running in good order".

In October last year, the minister said in parliament that aviation stakeholders aimed to hire another 4,000 workers from September 2022 to the end of the year.

That hiring spree would bring the industry to about 90 per cent of its pre-pandemic workforce - a figure Mr Iswaran confirmed on Wednesday, as he added that the aim was "to get back to 100 per cent by the end of this year".

FUTURE OF AIR HUB

Apart from the planned construction of Terminal 5 by 2025, the minister also said there were plans to transform Changi Airport into a sustainable air hub.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) is currently studying 15 recommendations from an International Advisory Panel on Sustainable Air Hub.

Consultation with stakeholders is underway and when ready, CAAS will publish the Sustainable Air Hub Blueprint, which will lay out the targets and pathways for the decarbonisation of the Singapore aviation sector.