Singapore, May 14 (PTI) Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Wednesday broke ground for a new terminal at the Changi Airport as part of an expansion that is expected to cost “tens of billions of dollars” to turn the city-state into a leading global travel hub with links to more than 200 cities by the 2030s.
The construction is projected to span over a decade, with the first phase opening in the mid-2030s within the 1,080ha Changi East development.
The Changi Airport Development Fund was started in 2015 to support the expansion of the airport and the construction of T5. So far, the government has deposited SGD11 billion into the fund, according to a report by The Straits Times.
The entire Changi East development, which includes T5, is expected to run into “tens of billions,” it was reported in 2018. The Changi Airport Development Fund will be topped up by SGD5 billion to support this, Channel News Asia reported.
The terminal, development of which was resumed in 2022 after a Covid-19 pause, will have three different parts connected by automated people movers akin to the existing sky trains, while its location could pave the way for air-sea transfers via the nearby Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal.
Construction will intensify in the next few years and peak around 2029, said Ong Chee Chiau, CAG’s managing director for Changi East. Works completed so far include a new runway, the airport’s third; an underpass for vehicular traffic; and tunnels for baggage and automated people mover systems similar to the Skytrain.
The new terminal will also be able to withstand extreme weather and climate change effects and will be designed to deploy technology at scale.
When the first phase of the T5 project is completed in the mid-2030s, the terminal will be able to handle about 50 million passengers annually.
T5, or terminal number five, will support the Singapore goal of reaching more than 200 city links, up from around 170 city links that Changi Airport currently has.
The existing four terminals at Changi handled 68.4 million passengers in the past financial year.
The opening of T5 will expand Changi Airport’s capacity by over 50 per cent to 140 million and place it among the world’s mega airports, defined as those that handle more than 100 million passengers a year.
CAG chief executive officer Yam Kum Weng said transit passengers in T5 can connect to another flight in under an hour, faster than the current transfer times.
There will be a separate train service from Terminal 5 to Terminal 2 via a 2.5-km underground link between the terminals, which began construction in 2024. T5 will have overlapping “roof leaves” with varying heights, which will create “a variety of spaces that are more human scale,” said CAG in material provided to the media.
The terminal on a reclaimed site will also be designed to withstand extreme weather and climate change effects, with an airfield that is 5.5-metre above sea level and taxiways that are sloped to allow rainwater to drain off.