SINGAPORE Changi Airport will get a fifth terminal that can handle up to 50 million passengers a year as part of an ambitious expansion plan spanning over a decade.
Announced at a media briefing last Friday, The Straits Times reported that the aim was “to seal the airport’s premier hub status”, in view of growing competition from other air hubs in the region and beyond.
Slated for opening in 2025, Terminal 5 will be bigger than Terminals 2 and 3 combined. It could either be a single building or a smaller facility connected to a satellite terminal through an underground rail link.
It will be located at Changi East, linked to the rest of the airport, and possibly have its own MRT station.
When completed, Changi expects the new terminal to catapult the airport’s total passenger capacity to 135 million annually, up from 66 million currently.
Meanwhile, Yap Ong Heng, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, said there are plans to “stretch” the airports existing two runways. Singapore’s third runway at Changi East will be operational around 2020.
