After a two-year hiatus, Singapore Changi Airport’s T5 is back on the board, with the Prime Minister pushing the start button.
First announced in 2013, Singapore Changi Airport's Terminal 5 project is back on the drawing board. Changi Airport Group, the airport manager, has released a preview of the Terminal 5 (T5) project with a new design based on lessons learned during COVID.
In his National Day Rally speech last week, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that Singapore Changi Airport T5 is integral to the nation's long-term development plans for aviation. When fully developed, T5 will be able to handle about 50 million passengers per year, which is more than the existing T1 and T3 combined can accommodate. It will be built on a site almost as large as the current airport, with construction expected to start in 2024. When presenting the preview, Prime Minister Lee said, "We are building one more new Changi Airport; it's huge." After revealing the Arrivals Hall concepts, he beamed, "T5 will show the world what sort of place Singapore is."
The T5 project was paused for two years due to the pandemic, allowing Changi Airport Group (CAG) and other stakeholders to reassess what was needed to meet projected growth. CAG wants to strengthen Changi's position as the premier air hub for the region, and it believes the added capacity and functionality of T5 will allow it to maintain that place. The sight of large airports standing empty is one not lost on CAG, who said,
"T5 will be designed with the flexibility to operate as smaller sub-terminals when needed, with space that could be converted for use during contingencies, such as for testing operations or the segregation of high-risk passengers."
Beyond building design, T5 will incorporate the latest features to reduce the transmission of diseases, such as contactless systems at passenger touchpoints and enhanced ventilation systems. As the concept rendering shows, T5's roof will be covered in a mass of solar panels. Inside it will incorporate the latest in intelligent building management systems, including district cooling combined with thermal energy storage.
It is expected the new terminal will come online in the mid-2030s when the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) should be in full swing. CAG said that T5 would be ready for viable alternative fuels, including the use of SAF, which is good news for home airlines like Singapore Airlines and Scoot. In July, both airlines used blended-SAF for flights from Changi delivered directly via the airport's fuel hydrant system. The Singapore Airlines Group has more than 200 aircraft operating at Changi Airport so having access to ready supplies of SAF is vital to their decarbonization and net zero by 2050 targets.
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T5 will also feature the latest automation, intelligent systems and robotic technologies. One concept could see the deployment of autonomous vehicles to support baggage and cargo transport on the airside and robotics for baggage handling. Autonomous baggage carts have been trialed extensively in the UK at London Heathrow and are the type of automation that T5 will deploy on a large scale.
It goes almost without saying that T5 will seamlessly connect to Singapore's highly efficient public transport system. It will have a dedicated ground transportation center where passengers can access rail, bus and other point-to-point services, traveling directly into the city center on the MRT network.
Journalist – A professional aviation journalist writing across the industry spectrum. Michael uses his MBA and corporate business experience to go behind the obvious in search of the real story. A strong network of senior aviation contacts mixed with a boyhood passion for airplanes helps him share engaging content with fellow devotees. Based in Melbourne, Australia.