Singapore wants to make its airport pandemic proof

Bloomberg

Singapore will start work on a fifth terminal at Changi Airport — regularly voted among the world’s best — with a revised design that allows it to adjust capacity during a pandemic.
The move comes as the city-state works to cement its place as Asia’s primary aviation hub, with rival Hong Kong still imposing Covid quarantines and other border restrictions.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong detailed the plans in his National Day Rally address.
“In the longer term, air travel will keep growing because of the fast expanding middle-class in our region,” Lee said. “We redesigned T5 to be more resilient, in particular to operate more safely and flexibly during a pandemic, to scale operations up and down more easily, and to isolate passengers from different flights to limit cross-infection.”
The terminal, expected to be completed in the middle of next decade, may serve as a model for other airports globally in preparing for events that are out of their control after the pandemic decimated the travel industry. Even before Covid, Changi had ambitious plans for a heavily automated terminal, minimising touch-points and letting robots do the bulk of the work.
The move bolsters Singapore’s position ahead of Hong Kong, which already has similar capacity to Changi, but where ongoing Covid restrictions mean flight activity remains limited. In contrast, Singapore has gradually lifting most curbs, and even plans to scrap rules for wearing masks in most indoor settings.
While other airports are looking at similar designs, most don’t have such ambitious expansion projects, giving Changi an edge to build an airport designed for a post-pandemic era, said Brendan Sobie, Singapore-based founder of consultancy Sobie Aviation.
“Singapore is always trying to stay ahead of the curve and maintain its position as a leading hub for this region,” Sobie said. “Changi has an opportunity to take the lead in terms of post-pandemic airport design and it is hardly a surprise it’s keen to do just that given its history and continued aspirations.”
The gigantic Terminal 5 — a monster building opposite the four existing terminals — will be one of the largest and most automated passenger terminals in the world. The plans include an array of cameras and technology that bypass the traditional flight control tower, a laser-guided aerobridge that positions itself to let fliers disembark, and automated vehicles to unload baggage.
“It’s huge,” Lee said. “In fact, we’re building one more new Changi airport.”
The new terminal, expected to cost “tens of billions of dollars” according to the government, also features a project called Changi East Development, which envisages a three-runway system, construction of tunnels and other underground infrastructure, and an industrial zone.