Singapore Changi Airport (IATA: SIN, ICAO: WSSS), or simply Changi Airport, is the primary civilian airport for Singapore, and one of the largest transportation hubs in Southeast Asia. It is currently rated the World's Best Airport by Skytrax, for the fifth consecutive year (Skytrax's World's Best Airport 2013-2017) and is one of the world's busiest airports by international passenger and cargo traffic. The airport is located in Changi, at the eastern end of Singapore, approximately 17.2 kilometres (10.7 mi) northeast from Marina Bay (Singapore's Downtown Core), on a 13-square-kilometre (5.0 sq mi) site. It is operated by Changi Airport Group and it is the home base of Singapore Airlines, Singapore Airlines Cargo, SilkAir, Scoot, Jetstar Asia Airways and BOC Aviation.
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Overview of Changi Airport
Changi Airport serves more than 100 airlines flying to 380 cities in around 90 countries and territories worldwide. Each week, about 7,000 flights land or depart from Changi, or, about one every 90 seconds.
For the 2016 full year figures published by the airport, the airport handled 58,698,039 passengers (a 5.9% increase over the previous year), the most in its 35-year history. This made it the sixth busiest airport by international passenger traffic in the world and the second busiest in Asia. In December 2016, Changi Airport registered a total of 5.68 million passenger movements, the highest the airport has ever achieved in a month since it opened in 1981. Its daily traffic movement record was also broken on 23 December 2016, with more than 202,000 passengers passing through during that day. In addition to being an important passenger hub, the airport is also one of the busiest cargo airports in the world, handling 1.97 million tonnes of cargo in 2016. The total number of commercial aircraft movements increased by 4.1% from the previous year to 360,490 in 2016. In April 2017, the airport handled more than a billion passengers for the first time.
The airport has won over 533 awards since its opening, including 26 "Best Airport" awards in 2016 alone. Changi Airport's efforts to mitigate the effects of ageing infrastructure include continual physical upgrades to its existing terminals and building new facilities to maintain its high standards in airport service quality.
Passenger Terminals
Changi Airport has three main passenger terminals, arranged in an elongated inverted 'U' shape. Currently, the airport has a designed total annual handling capacity of 66 million passengers.
- Terminal 1, opened in 1981, is located at the northern end.
- Terminal 2, opened in 1990, is located to the eastern side.
- Terminal 3, opened in 2008, is located to the western side.
- Terminal 4, opening on 31 October 2017, is built on the site of the former Budget Terminal.
There is also a privately run luxury terminal called the JetQuay CIP Terminal. It is similar to the Lufthansa First Class Terminal at Frankfurt Airport, but is open to all passengers travelling in all classes on all airlines with an access fee.
Former Terminal
The short-lived Budget Terminal was opened on 26 March 2006 and closed on 25 September 2012 to make way for Terminal 4, which is opening on 31 October 2017.
Future Terminals and projects
- Terminal 5 is set to be ready in the mid 2020s. It is expected to handle 50 million passenger movements per annum. The airport terminal structure is projected to be larger than all the previous terminals combined. It will be built on reclaimed land to the east of the present terminals.
- Jewel Changi Airport, set to open in early 2019, is a multi-use structure interconnecting Terminals 1, 2 and 3. Part of this project will help expand Terminal 1 to handle 28 million passengers per year.
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Operations
Passenger operations
As the airport only handles international passenger traffic, all three major terminals in operation are equipped with immigration-processing facilities for international travel.
After recovering from a drop in passenger traffic as a result of the September 11 attacks in 2001 and the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003, the airport saw rapid growth in traffic, which hit the 30-million mark for the first time in 2004. In March 2008, prior to the full effect of the financial crisis of 2007-2010 on the global economy, the airport was predicted to handle 50 million passengers by 2012 due to the opening of casinos in Singapore and the phased liberalisation of the Asean aviation sector. As predicted, the airport surpassed the 50-million mark in 2012.
Cargo operations
The Air Cargo Division of the Changi Airport Group (CAG) manages the Changi Airfreight Centre located in the north of the airport premises. The airport handled 1.81 million tonnes of air cargo in 2012, making it the 7th busiest airfreight hub in the world and the fifth busiest in Asia. Due to Singapore's large electronics sector, electrical components constitute a significant part of the total cargo traffic handled at the airport. Changi airport has initiated attempts to expand into the perishable air cargo market. In 2015, Changi Airport handled 1,853,087 tonnes of air freight. Air Cargo World awarded the 2013 Air Cargo Excellence Award to Changi Airport for handling more than 1,000,000 tonnes of cargo in Asia.
Key markets and destinations
In 2016, Indonesia was the largest market for Singapore Changi Airport, followed by Malaysia, China, Thailand, Australia, India, Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines and Vietnam. Jakarta was the top destination for travellers in Singapore Changi Airport, followed by Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila, Tokyo, Denpasar, Ho Chi Minh City, Taipei and Sydney.
Safety and security
The Changi Airport Group (CAG) manages the overall safety and security of the airport. The Airport Management Division of the CAG manages the customer aspects of the airport's security, while the Aviation Security Unit oversees the airport's compliance with aviation security (AVSEC) policies, and manages AVSEC-related projects. The airport's emergency and fire-fighting services are handled by the Airport Emergency Service Division. The Airport Emergency Services handles all instances of rescue and fire-fighting within the airport premises as well as in surrounding waters. It operates from two main fire stations (Station 1 by Runway 1 along West Perimeter Road and Station 2 by Runway 2 along Changi Coast Road), one sub-station (Domestic Fire Station), and one sea rescue base near the airport.
The airport's security comes under the regulatory purview of the Airport Police Division of the Singapore Police Force (SPF). The day to day discharge of security functions at the airport are performed by auxiliary police forces including Aetos Security Management, Certis CISCO and SATS Security Services. Aetos and SATS Security Services are affiliated to the ground handling companies of Dnata and Singapore Changi Airport Terminal Services respectively. On 29 April 2008, CAAS signed its then biggest single security contract for all airport related security services by engaging Certis CISCO to provide security services at Singapore Changi Airport, as well as Seletar Airport, Changi Airfreight Centre, and the Singapore Air Traffic Control Centre. It involves the deployment of about 2,600 Certis Cisco personnel, including armed Auxiliary Police Officers and unarmed aviation security officers to perform tasks such as screening checked baggage, controlling access to restricted areas, and screening passengers before they board their aircraft.
Since the 11 September 2001 attacks and the naming of the airport as a terrorism target by the Jemaah Islamiyah, the airport's security has been tightened. Singapore Armed Force and Singapore Police Force officers, armed with assault rifles or sub-machine guns, has been deployed to patrol the terminals at random intervals. Officers from the Gurkha Contingent are also dispatched to patrol the transit areas of the terminal buildings. These measures come at a cost partly borne by travellers in the form of a "passenger security service charge", imposed since 2002.
In 2005, an upgrade in screening technology and rising security concerns led to luggage-screening processes being conducted behind closed-doors, as opposed to them being done before check-in within public view. The screening of carry-on luggage and travellers are mostly conducted at individual departure gates, while check-in luggage are screened in the backrooms and secured before loading. A perimeter intrusion detection system for Changi Airport's perimeter fence has also been put in place to further strengthen security of the airfield, while a biometric access control system for staff movement has been put in place since 2006.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Cargo
Operational statistics
Accidents and incidents
- On 26 March 1991, Singapore Airlines Flight 117, operated by an Airbus A310, was hijacked by four Pakistani terrorists. The flight landed in Changi Airport at 22:15. The Singapore Special Operations Force stormed the plane, on the morning of 27 March. All four hijackers were killed, with no fatalities among the 123 passengers and crew that were held hostage for more than eight hours.
- On 4 November 2010, Qantas Flight 32, operated by an Airbus A380-800, suffered an uncontained engine failure and made an emergency landing in Changi Airport. Upon landing, one of the engines could not be shut down due to ruptured control cables and had to be doused for three hours by airport firefighters to forcefully shut it down. All 469 people on board survived this incident.
- On 27 June 2016, Singapore Airlines Flight 368, operated by a Boeing 777-300ER, suffered an engine problem while flying from Singapore to Milan. During the diversionary landing in Singapore, the right engine and wing caught fire. The fire was quickly extinguished by airport fire services. There were no injuries among the 241 people on board.
- On 16 May 2017, a fire broke out at the departure hall in Terminal 2. The fire caused 40 flights at Terminal 2 to be delayed and diverted to Terminal 3. Terminal 2 was closed from 17:30 to 22:45.
Ground transportation
Changi Airport was built with ground-transportation considerations in mind from the onset, with the East Coast Parkway built and opened in tandem with the airport, providing a direct link to the city-centre. At a distance of about 20 km (12 mi), the expressway was built almost entirely on reclaimed land, thus minimising disruptions to the existing road network in Singapore's East Coast.
Despite the three main passenger terminal buildings being relatively close to each other, the CAAS (Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore) decided to build the Changi Airport Skytrain people-mover system to facilitate quicker and more convenient transfers between the terminals for travellers. The system was upgraded in 2007 to with new technologies supplied by Mitsubishi, connecting to Terminal 3 and separating checked-in passengers from the general public on distinct tracks.
Inter-Terminal Transportation
The Changi Airport Skytrain operates between Terminals 1, 2 and 3, with a total of seven stations. Trains operate on separate tracks between stations in the airside (transit) areas and in landside (public) areas. This is to segregate passengers who have cleared immigration from public passengers.
External connections
Mass Rapid Transit
The airport is connected to the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) network via a two-stop branch of the East West Line from Tanah Merah MRT Station, consisting of two stations: Expo, serving the nearby Singapore Expo site; and Changi Airport, located underground between Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 and directly accessible from both terminals. A direct, one-train service to the downtown and western parts of Singapore was initially in operation when the station opened on 8 February 2002. This was replaced by the current shuttle service between Tanah Merah and Changi Airport via Expo on 22 July 2003, when it was found that passenger demand for this route was low. Passengers need to transfer at Tanah Merah station for train service towards the city or Pasir Ris.
Bus
Buses were one of the main methods of transport for passengers and staff until the opening of Changi Airport station. Services operated by SBS Transit, SMRT Buses and Go-Ahead Group uses the bus terminals in the basement level of the three main terminals, making a loop starting from Terminal 3 to Terminals 1, and 2, and back to their destination of origin. With effect from 22 October 2017, four bus services will call at Terminal 4.
Coaches to and from Johor Bahru are also available. Operated by Transtar Travel, the service will start at coach stands at Terminals 1, 2, 3 and end at Larkin Terminal.
There is also a free shuttle bus service plying between Changi Airport (T3) and Changi Business Park. This service is a 9-stop route, running from Mondays to Fridays, except public holidays.
Taxi
Taxis are available at taxi stands located in the arrival halls of each terminal. Limousine services are also available.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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