A model of Changi Airport Terminal 5 ahead of the ground-breaking ceremony on May 14. - ST
SINGAPORE: The development of Changi Airport Terminal 5 (T5) - a “bold move” to keep the Singapore air hub competitive - will raise demand for services and workers, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
“This will provide more quality jobs for Singaporeans, requiring skill sets in new areas like data science, robotics and sustainability,” PM Wong said on Wednesday (May 14) at the T5 groundbreaking ceremony, which marks the start of construction on the mega terminal in Changi East.
T5 is slated to open in the mid-2030s.
The opportunities, said the Prime Minister, will come earlier than thought.
“The construction itself of T5 will be complex,” he said, adding that it is a significant engineering undertaking, and Singapore businesses will have the chance to take part in the process.
PM Wong said T5, which was first mooted in 2013, will be a multi-year project, spanning many terms of government.
Saying that the continued success of prize-winning Changi Airport cannot be presumed, he added that Singapore is making a bold move to keep Singapore’s air hub ahead.
“Like our forefathers who chose to build Changi, we dare to dream big and aim high,” PM Wong said, adding that the country plans for the long term and has built up the resources to make the major investments needed to turn its plans into reality.
The Prime Minister said the move to build T5 is a very significant milestone in Singapore’s aviation journey.
Designed to handle about 50 million passengers a year, T5 will allow Changi Airport to process 140 million passengers yearly – up from its current capacity of 90 million.
It will be as big as all four existing terminals at Changi Airport combined, noted PM Wong.
T5 will be the new home for national carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) and its budget arm Scoot, which now operate across Terminals 1, 2 and 3, he added.
“Those flights can be consolidated at T5, reducing transit-transfer time for passengers,” said PM Wong, adding that there will still be space for other airlines to expand their fleets there, as well as across Changi Airport.
He noted that the mega terminal will have state-of-the-art systems, and automate passenger-facing and back-end functions such as baggage handling.
It will also be sustainable, leveraging smart building management systems, such as artificial-intelligence-optimised air conditioning, intelligent lighting and hybrid cooling systems.
It will also be powered with more clean energy.
The airport, said PM Wong, is looking into the feasibility of installing a solar system on its roof. This would be one of the largest rooftop systems in Singapore because of T5’s size.
There will also be an automated people mover system to take passengers directly from T5’s arrival gates to the immigration halls, reducing walking distances.
The mega terminal will also be connected to other terminals via the people mover system.
T5 will also be better connected to the rest of Singapore than Changi Airport is now.
A ground transport centre will bring together the MRT, buses, taxis and cars.
The Thomson-East Coast MRT Line will be extended to take passengers directly from T5 to the city centre and up north towards the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System Link terminal at Woodlands North.
“We are also working to extend the Cross Island Line to connect T5 to new hubs in Singapore, like the Jurong Lake District and Punggol Digital District,” PM Wong said.
T5, being closer to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, will also allow Changi Airport to explore air-sea transfers to destinations in neighbouring countries, he added.
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