Changi Airport Singapore

Changi Airport, Singapore (26 July 2017)


Changi Airport (IATA: SIN; GPS: 1.36442, 103.99153) is the main entry point to Singapore by air. Located on the easternmost part of the island of Singapore, the airport sits on a 13 square kilometer site about 17 km from downtown Singapore. Changi Airport (SIN) is the It is the second busiest airport in Southeast Asia after Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi (BKK). This huge airport is located on a 1300 hectare site, 20 km from the commercial centre of Singapore. It has 3 terminals, so if you are flying off from Changi, make sure you find out which terminal your flight will be departing.

Most airlines use Terminal 1 (Departures GPS: 1.36115, 103.99016) while Singapore Airlines and its Star Alliance partners use Terminal 2 (Departures GPS: 1.35671, 103.98876) and 3 (Departures GPS: 1.35517, 103.98705). All three terminals are linked to one another seamlessly, so you might not realise which terminal you are in unless you read the signs. In addition, at time of writing (August 2017), a Terminal 4 is being prepared for public use, and will officially open at the end of 2017.

Changi Airport was one of the largest single-development projects in Singapore's history. Work on the airport began in 1975, even when the Paya Lebar airport was still being expanded to meet growing passenger demands. To make way for the airport, two square kilometers of swampland was cleared and filled. The first phase of the airport cost S$1.3 billion. It opened on 1 July, 1981 with Singapore Airlines Flight 101 carrying 140 passengers arriving at 7:00 pm from Kuala Lumpur.

Changi Airport handled 37 million passengers in 2009, making it the 21st busiest airport in the world, and the 5th busiest in Asia. It is one of the busiest cargo airports in the world, handling 1.66 million tons of cargo in 2009. The airport also employs 13,000 people, making it one of the biggest employer in the city state.

Map of Changi Airport, Singapore

Going to Changi Airport

Take the East-West Line to the Changi Airport MRT Station.

Terminal 1, Changi Airport (2 August 2017)


Times Travel, a bookshop in Changi Airport (26 July 2017)


Self check-in terminals at the Departure Hall, Terminal 1, Changi Airport (26 July 2017)


Directional signages, Changi Airport (26 July 2017)


Terminal 2, Changi Airport (26 July 2017)


Skytrain, Changi Airport (26 July 2017)

Accommodation at Changi Airport

The main accommodation provider at Changi Airport is Crowne Plaza Changi Airport. It is located to the north of Terminal 3, and southwest of Terminal 1. The hotel is built for foot travelers. It doesn't have its own car park. The nearest car park is at Terminal 3.

Update: Changi Airport Terminal 4

Terminal 4 is the newest terminal of Changi Airport. The first plane to land there is an AirAsia flight from Kuala Lumput on 23 June, 2017. The plane will also take off from the terminal back to Kuala Lumpur. That flight is just a trial, as Terminal 4 will only open later in 2017.

Terminal 4 was built on the site of the former Budget Terminal. It is a two-storey building with a gross floor area of 225,000 square meters. It has 4 stands for wide-body aircraft and 17 stands for narrow-body aircraft. There are 21 contact gates, namely G1 to G21.

Changi Airport is the home base for flag carrier Singapore Airlines as well as SilkAir, Tiger Airways, Jetstar Asia, and Valuair. As one of the first airports in the world to have a commercially operational fleet of the Airbus A380, Changi Airport was also one of the first to be made ready to accept this wide-bodied aircraft.

To prepare the airport, Terminals 1 and 2 were upgraded at a cost of S$60 million to enlarge the gate hold rooms, built new triple-pier aerobridges and extend the baggage carousels. There are now eleven gates at Terminals 1 and 2 with A380-capable aerobridges, and another eight at Terminal 3.

The three main terminals are connected by the Changi Airport Skytrain. First launched in the early 1990's using Bombardier carriages to shuttle between Terminals 1 and 2, the service was revamped with new Mitsubishi carriages in 2006, and extended to Terminal 3 in 2007. There are separate services for transit passengers and for the general public, offered free of charge and operating between 5:30 am and 2:30 am daily.

Update: Jewel Changi Airport

This is a multi-purpose complex, essentially another shopping mall, that is being built adjacent to Terminal 1 of Changi Airport. Started in August 2013, it looks like a bar of soap in front of the control tower. The project is a collaboration between Changi Airport Group and CapitaLand Mall Asia, which owns and manages many shopping malls in Singapore and elsewhere in Asia. Built where the multi-storey car park once was, it will when completed bright the various terminals of the airport, and offer yet more shopping to visitors. At the time of my visit in August 2017, it was still under construction.

View of under construction Jewel Changi Airport from Terminal 1. (26 July 2017)

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