Changi Airport Terminal 3 Set To Open 9 Jan 2008

[Keith T 2]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin.../278999/1/.html

 

Changi Airport's T3 to begin operations from 9 Jan

By Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 29 May 2007 1349 hrs

 

 

SINGAPORE: Changi Airport's new Terminal 3 will begin flight operations from 9 January next year.

 

Transport Minister Raymond Lim announced this after a tour of the terminal on Tuesday.

 

Over the next eight months, trial flights and rigorous tests on critical airport systems such as baggage handling will be conducted to iron out any kinks.

 

Members of the public will get a sneak preview of the new terminal at an open house that will be held in November and December to coincide with the year-end school holidays.

 

The S$1.75 billion terminal will be able to handle 22 million passengers annually.

 

This will bring the total annual passenger capacity of Changi Airport to about 70 million.

[KC Sim 2]

Singapore's Minister of Transport Mr Raymond Lim was today given a preview of Changi Airport Terminal 3 - almost a year to the day when it marked another milestone (its topping up ceremony on 30 may 2006). Terminal 3 and all its associated facilities cost a total of S$1.75 billion (compared to S$585 million for T1 and S$838 million for T2). Driving to the terminal today, one quickly notices the huge progress in general landscaping around T3 although the opening is eight months away on 9 Jan 2008. A lot more flowering shrubs are used along with an interesting assortment of Royal Palms, Sealing Wax Palms and others.

 

Stepping off the car at the kerbside of T3's departure level, one is confronted with a very long glass wall on the left, a red-stained driveway (at least 4 or 5-lane wide) on the right and the Changi Airport iconic control tower in the distance. Across the sea of greenery, the departure level of T2 can also be clearly seen.

 

 

In the next picture, the rows of lights will shine onto the overhanging ceiling above the kerbside where variously-angled panels will reflect the light to lend soft illumination to the terminal's departure hall entrance.

 

On entering one of the glass doors, one is confronted with a huge expanse of space . . . 300x200m of space with a ceiling at least three storeys high. On the ceiling, a total of 919 skylights flanked by a pair of louvres cast a soft glow of natural light into the departure hall. The pair of louvres serve to deflect the light so that there will not be any shafts of light shining from the ceiling into the departure hall. Outside and on top of the skylight, a pair of butterfly louvres are controlled to follow the sun and clouds to ensure a specific level of illumination in the terminal. On rainy or cloudy days, additional artificial lightings are used.

 

 

 

 

The check-in counters in Terminal 3 have been lowered to give both passengers and staff greater room for visual interaction. Economy Class check-in counters feature a beautifully-stained wood finish while Business Class check-in counters sport a red leather finish.

 

 

Singapore Airlines' First Class passengers proceed to a dedicated facility with its own distinctive entrance for check-in. There will be no counters to go to, no trolleys to grapple with and no queues. Butler service right from kerbside to lounge takes care of all the nitty grittys.

 

At the immigration check area (which is now centralised - unlike T1 and T2 where this facility is split into two areas), passengers with automated clearances proceed to the left while those clearing normally remain in the centre or to the right. The immigration counters mirror the finish of the economy class check-in counters.

 

 

In the transit hall, one is greeted by a long shopping boulevard that extends both left and right.

 

Three clusters of gates (two located near the centre of the terminal where six of the gates are A380 capable and one additional cluster at the southern tip of T3) feature common gate holdrooms. Each of these common gate holdroom is capable of accommodating up to 2000 passengers.

 

Arriving passengers too get a taste of the luscious greenery that T3 will offer, plus a generous dose of natural light. Through openings in the departure level, natural light is able to reach down to the arrival level where the baggage claim carousel is embellished with more plants and flowering shrubs and a 300m "Green Wall" of plants. There are also four gentle waterfalls and a long 3-D art relief with messages of welcome.

 

There are certainly drawbacks in the design - particularly in the viewing mall (landside). It has been allocated a generous amount of space and there will also be restaurants and refreshment outlets.

 

Except that . . . visitors to the viewing mall are still a distance away from the external wall of the terminal facing runway 20R/02L. Two panels of glass separate visitors from the aircraft parked in front of the terminal - one tend to get a good view of people having a good view of the ramp, taxyway and runway action.

 

In summary, T3 is totally on time, on budget and on the way to opening on 9 jan 2008. Before that, special open houses will be organised separately for travel agents, the general public and airport users. Some MINDEF charter flights and a number of SIA flights will be directed to T3 to try out the new terminal's facilities. With automatic people movers linking all three terminals as well as an automatic baggage handling system, transfer between all terminals can easily be accomplished with the airport's minimum-connecting-time of 60mins. In reality, this can be done within minutes - leaving lots of time for a spot of aviation photography or shopping or dining or perhaps a stroll in the outdoor gardens of T2 and t1.

 

KC Sim

Edited May 29, 2007 by KC Sim

[Kevin Teh 0]

wow.. gorgeous! spacious.... waht can i say more about T3... looking forward for its opening!

[Isaac 0]

Very nice airport. Is this terminal exclusively for SQ only or Star Alliance carriers and MAS (due to shuttle flight) will be using this terminal as well ?

[Ivan L. 0]

 

Fantastic Pictures!! Gotta love the new Terminal 3... Can't help to notice that they still have raffles class name with the palm tree logo. Thought it supposed to be gone already.

 

Only SQ will be using this terminal. Star Alliance will move to terminal 2. I'm not sure about MH tho...

Edited May 29, 2007 by Ivan L.

[Keith T 2]

Fantastic pics - KC.

 

Small clarification there - SQ to SQ MCT at SIN is currently 45 mins. Do you mean it's increased to 60 mins with the new terminal's opening since there'd be a terminal change involved?

 

Nice to see SIN will have a dedicated facility for F pax (and TPP IIRC) like FRA FCT! Any limo service to the aircraft?

 

I will be passing through Changi just a few days after T3 opens - 14 Jan!!

Will be using T1 though (arriving on JL, connecting to BA) - but they seem to be connected and I'll definitely pop landside to do tour la grande.

QF/BA will have a presence in T3 but I'm confused as to how that'd work airside as it seems their lounge will still be in T1. T1 will be renovated except for the area where the QF/BA lounge is... I might have got that wrong. *confused*

 

But I do know that QF/BA has signed on to move to T3 for 2 years while T1 is renovated, with the option of being in T3 permanently.

 

Only SQ will be using this terminal. Star Alliance will move to terminal 2. I'm not sure about MH tho...

 

SQ will be split between T2 and T3. There's a thread somewhere here or on a.net detailing which flights in which terminal.

Edited May 29, 2007 by Keith T

[Ivan L. 0]

SQ will be split between T2 and T3. There's a thread somewhere here or on a.net detailing which flights in which terminal.

 

That's right. Forgot to add the additional details.. Thanks Keith...

and here is the details from a.net

http://www.airliners.net/discussions/gener...ad.main/3382262

Edited May 29, 2007 by Ivan L.

[KC Sim 2]

Sorry Keith, forgot to add that the 60min is for connection to other carriers in both T2 and T1.

 

When you are passing through T1 connecting from JL to BA, you need only walk through T1's pier that connects to T3 and hey presto, you are in T3. That is to say that you need to only walk from Gate C1 in the direction of C6. . .

 

You can then tour T3's airside facilities to your heart's content.

 

Thanks Fendy for merging the two threads. I took such a long time doing the thread that by the time I was done, Keith's thread was up. This is what happens when age catches up.

 

Last year, a senior CAAS representative told me that the way the louvres were positioned beneath the skylight, one will not see shafts of light streaming down the departure hall . . . and the resulting effect is diffused lighting effect that is more pleasant to the eye. It was very sunny this morning and I was certain that there will be shafts of light . . . and there was none. Engineering people are amazing. CAAS' claim to have tested the water-tightness of the skylight was also proven . . . during recent unseasonally heavy thunderstorms, all the skylight passed the test with flying colours.

 

Note that all light fittings at the roof level are actually mounted outside the building above the glass skylight. This means that whenever they needed replacement, access is via the outisde of the roof - meaning no disruption to the passenger flow within the terminal.

 

KC Sim

[Hoe Jyh 0]

Wow! Fantastic pictures & thanks for sharing KC. The pictures of the check-in area looks so clean and perfect that I almost thought they were screenshots from a computer simulation. The design of the terminal looks spacious, futuristic and not overly complicated. I'm definitely looking forward to the open house at the end of this year. A pity about the viewing mall, although its an improvement over the 'useless' T2 viewing mall.

[Walter Sim 1]

ahem..

 

the lush greenery in T3 would certainly put KUL's forest in the airport theme to shame..

[Seng Lim 0]

ahem..

 

the lush greenery in T3 would certainly put KUL's forest in the airport theme to shame..

Absolutely!!

[Pieter C. 5]

Nice looking T3 viewing mall: nice for viewing, indeed, but bad for the photographers

 

Thanks a lot for sharing these T3 shots, KC, hope to see for myself next week and meeting you too

[Leo 0]

Actually KLIA forest can't be see as first it was out side the terminal building with glass wall block away from eye's view, second those restoran, duty free show and information counter make people more away from the glass wall it self make me didn't feel like those forest are visible or even notice them around the airport it self. Lighting for the forest are poor also.

[Steve 0]

T3 and the thought of A380 ops definitely increases the heart rate .

 

I have to agree that the T3 viewing area looks to be much better than T2 option, but photography will still be confined to whatever happens to taxi past the T1 viewing area. What a missed opportunity by CAAS

 

It might be some time before I personally experience the new terminal as I will departing SE Asia after 5 years in Brunei in July, Vancouver look out

 

 

[Seth K 3]

Wow, those are stunning! Looks like SIN just claim the "green airport" title from KUL.............

[Yeung H 0]

wow....cant wait for its opening.

 

its looks nice,gorgeous,and high tech..

 

SQ will be split between T2 and T3. There's a thread somewhere here or on a.net detailing which flights in which terminal

 

All the US and Europe bound flight will be relocated to T3 while flight to Asia mostly remains at T2 except the flight bound for US

but with a stopover in Asia destination.There is a discussion that this flight split action would add a lot burden to

connecting passengers and those who come and meet passengers.So interested to know how SQ is going to solve this problem?