Singapore restarts Changi Terminal 5 project



Singapore has announced plans to resume work at Changi Airport's Terminal 5.


Terminal 5, which has a capacity of 50 million, was put on hold in June 2020 following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing drop in demand for air travel.


But at this week's Changi Air Summit, Singapore's Transport Minister S Iswaran said, "Given the current and projected recovery in air travel demand, we have new impetus to ensure the growth capacity of our infrastructure".


"We took advantage of the two-year hiatus to comprehensively review the T5 design to make it more modular and flexible, and to enhance its resilience and sustainability," Iswaran said.


Construction work is now expected to begin within two or three years, with a completion date of the mid-next decade.


The airport's Terminal 5 is part of the 1,080-hectare Changi East project.


Passenger numbers at state-owned Singapore's Changi Airport fell sharply from about 68 million in 2019 to below 12 million in 2020 and just over 3 million in 2021.


But Iswaran said passenger traffic at the hub has now reached 40% of pre-pandemic levels.


Also speaking at the Changi Air Summit this week, IATA director general Willie Walsh urged Asia-Pacific countries to ease border measures to speed up the region's recovery from Covid-19.


"The Asia-Pacific region is catching up to restart travel in the wake of Covid-19, but with governments lifting many travel restrictions, momentum is building," said Walsh. "The need for people to travel is clear."