Frequently Asked Questions

Corporatisation of Changi Airport is a process to propel Changi Airport into a new phase of growth and development by sharpening its focus on airport operations. A big part of the regulatory and strategic functions performed by CAAS today will be retained in a re-structured Statutory Board, while we hope to provide greater flexibility for Changi Airport to further strengthen its position as an air hub. The aviation environment is a competitive one and this includes the competition in the airport business where airports like Dubai, Schiphol, and Hong Kong are doing very well as corporatised entities. A corporatised entity can do more to attract and retain talents. It can also venture overseas and develop as a truly international airport company.

Corporatisation has always featured as part of our long term plans for Changi Airport. It is only a question of timing. We have been studying corporatisation as early as 1992 but each time, our studies showed that the timing was not ideal because there were too many uncertainties at that particular point in time. For instance, the aviation industry had been affected by waves of uncertainties in the last 15 years, such as the Asian Financial Crisis, 9/11 and SARS. We think it is now timely to corporatise Changi Airport to take advantage of the new opportunities presented by the aviation industry.

In particular, competition between airports has become a lot keener now than before. Airports today are not just transport infrastructures but are businesses that compete for customers. There is also competition for talents. The success of Changi can be attributed to the competent and dedicated staff of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. But they are hotly pursued by the competitors of Changi. A corporatised entity will be better able to attract and retain talent, through offering a more varied and international career path.

The current upgrading at Terminal 1, which started in 2008, will be completed later this year. This will provide travellers with better facilities for baggage claim, and more spacious waiting areas, among other improvements. This upgrading project enhances the ambience and passenger experience at Terminal 1, but does not introduce additional capacity.

On the other hand, the announced expansion of Terminal 1 will increase its handling capacity from 21 million to 24 million passengers per annum, and allow Terminal 1 to better accommodate the changing profile of travellers. Terminal 1, being Changi’s first terminal, was originally designed to handle a larger proportion of transfer/transit passengers. However, as Singapore’s attractiveness as a destination grows, we are seeing more origin-destination passengers. The expansion project will increase the areas and facilities at Terminal 1 that cater to origin-destination passengers, such as meet-and-greet areas, pick-up driveways and car park spaces.

As part of the Terminal 1 expansion project, the space currently occupied by the open-air carpark at Terminal 1 will be redeveloped into a multi-use complex that will have more car park spaces than those available at the existing open-air carpark.

Terminal 3 is not a 'luxury' terminal. All three terminals at Changi Airport are designed and equipped to provide a high level of service to both passengers and airlines. As T3 is a newly constructed terminal, it is natural that it will have the latest facilities. An extensive upgrading of Terminal 2 (which took more than three years) was completed in June 2006. Once upgrading works at Terminal 1 are completed, all three terminals will have comparable services and facilities for both passengers and airlines.

To maximize the total airport capacity, CAAS will consciously spread out the capacity utilisation across Terminal 1, 2 and 3 to balance traffic demands among the three terminals while looking out for the long-term growth interests of airlines operating from each of the terminals.

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