Singapore's Changi Airport starts building fifth terminal after pandemic pause

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Singapore's Changi Airport connected Wednesday started operation of a 5th terminal, arsenic the world's fourth-busiest airdrome by planetary passengers expands to capitalise connected increasing aerial question successful Asia aft the pandemic.

The airdrome volition besides integrate a 3rd runway, which is presently utilized by the military, by 2030.

Flag bearer Singapore Airlines volition yet consolidate its operations astatine the caller terminal, which volition unfastened successful the mid-2030s and volition beryllium capable to grip 50 cardinal passengers per twelvemonth successful its archetypal phase.

At the groundbreaking, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said the airdrome aims to link Singapore to much than 200 cities by the mid-2030s from astir 170 cities now.

The authorities paused enactment connected the terminal successful 2020 for 2 years arsenic aerial question collapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequently amended plan features to conscionable the needs of post-pandemic travel.

Changi Airport has a existent capableness of 90 cardinal passengers annually and handled 67.7 cardinal passengers past year.

Asia's post-pandemic aerial question betterment has lagged successful places owed to China being slower than the remainder of the satellite to instrumentality to planetary flying.

However rider numbers successful Asia-Pacific are projected to treble by 2043, with an yearly maturation complaint of 5.1% outpacing expected maturation successful Europe and North America, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The terminal is portion of a 1,080-hectare Changi East development, which volition besides incorporate cargo and different aviation facilities.

Airport relation Changi Airport Group this period said it had awarded contracts for substructure and airside infrastructure works worthy S$4.75 cardinal ($3.6 billion) connected May 5.

Other aerial hubs successful Asia are besides expanding capableness to conscionable aboriginal demand. In November, Hong Kong International, the world's busiest cargo airport, began operating 3 runways to summation the fig of flights it tin handle.

($1=S$1.30)

(Reporting by Jun Yuan Yong; further reporting by Lisa Barrington successful Seoul; Editing by John Mair)