Construction of Changi Airport's T4 to begin

Construction of Changi Airport's Terminal 4 (T4) is expected to begin soon, with a total estimated budget of S$1.28 billion.

S$600 million is set aside for the construction of a two-storey building at the old Budget Terminal site. It will have a gross floor area of about 160,000 square metres.

The remaining S$680 million will be for the construction of additional parking stands, supporting airfield infrastructure, security requirements, specialised airport systems, ancillary buildings and road and drainage works.

In a media statement released on Friday, Changi Airport Group said T4 will be designed with the flexibility to meet the operational needs of both regional full service and low-cost carriers.

T4 will primarily handle narrow body aircraft and be designed to enable quick turnaround of flights.

The transfer of passengers and baggage between T4 and the other terminals will also be provided for.

In terms of feel and ambience, T4 will be comparable to Terminals 1 and 2.

Unlike the Budget Terminal, T4 will have aerobridges at its boarding gates.

Departure and arrival immigration control and pre-boarding security screening will be centralised for more efficient deployment of manpower and equipment.

T4 will have more kiosks for self check-in, self bag-tagging and self bag-drops.

Bag sorting at T4 will be fully automated. The baggage handling system will be equipped with the latest technology to enable heavy and odd-sized bags to be handled with ease even by older workers.

The number of aircraft parking stands will also be increased.

A 38-hectare land plot south of Terminal 3, which houses the airport nursery and reservoir, will be converted into an aircraft parking area to house 17 narrow-body and nine wide-body aircraft stands.

An overhead vehicular bridge across Airport Boulevard will be built to enable buses and other airport vehicles to move from T4 to the aircraft stands.

Major drainage works, including the construction of a new reservoir, will be undertaken to prevent flooding in the event of a heavy downpour.

A new road will be built to facilitate outgoing traffic from T4 onto the East Coast Parkway.

A multi-storey car park with spaces for 1,200 vehicles will also be built next to the terminal.

T4 is expected to be ready in 2017.

SOURCE

Terminal 4 will be completed in 2017 and it is mainly catered for narrow body aircraft and be designed to enable quick turnaround of flights. It sounds like a terminal specially built for the low cost carriers. The budget terminal was a myopic policy which is probably a huge waste of money. No aerobridges and looking distinctly "low cost", it was never popular with travellers. I guess we're all glad it's now gone for a better terminal 4 with much more enticing facilities.