Changi Airport Group (CAG) announced today that in view of the decline in passenger traffic and the likelihood that air travel demand will not return to pre-Covid-19 levels in the near term, terminal operations at Changi Airport will be consolidated.
From 1 May 2020, operations at Terminal 2 (T2) will be suspended for 18 months with airlines to be relocated to the remaining terminals. This suspension will allow the current T2 expansion works to be accelerated with expected completion, currently scheduled for 2024, brought forward by up to one year.
Tan Lye Teck, CAG’s executive vice president of airport management says, “With airlines suspending flights in response to the sharply reduced travel demand, the consolidation efforts seek to help our airport partners during this difficult time. While the scale of our operations will be reduced in the near term, Changi Airport remains open to serve the airfreight and passenger flights that continue to operate.
“Even as our airport capacity is being optimized for the current situation, we will have the flexibility and we stand ready to ramp up operations quickly once the recovery takes place.”
The move will also enable CAG and its airport partners to save on running costs such as utilities and cleaning as well as to optimize resources across the airport’s terminals to better match the low travel demand and airlines’ flight operations.
Due to the small number of flights at Terminal 4, operations at the terminal have been scaled down considerably with a small number of aircraft boarding gates kept in use and shops allowed to close early after the last flight for the day.
The stores and restaurants at Changi Airport have been significantly impacted by the reduced air passenger traffic and weakened consumer demand. CAG has been in discussion with the concessionaires on assistance measures based on their business circumstance.
(Picture courtesy of Changi airport.)