Singapore has completed construction of Southeast Asia’s first air terminal dedicated to serving the booming low-cost airline sector, a major boost to the city’s regional hub status, officials said on Monday.
The terminal at Changi Airport is scheduled to be operational on March 26, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (Caas) said.
At a cost of 45-million Singapore dollars ($27,5-million), it will occupy 25 000 square metres of floor space, about the size of three soccer fields, and will handle about 2,7-million passengers a year.
Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong said low-cost carriers now account for about 10% of Changi’s total passenger flights and will be a high-growth segment in the Asia-Pacific region in coming years.
He said efforts were being made to woo more budget carriers to the facility which has so far only attracted Singapore-based Tiger Airways, backed by flag carrier Singapore Airlines.
“A few of the budget carriers who are flying here are still reviewing,” Yeo told reporters at the terminal.
“Caas is still talking to some of the other carriers,” he said, declining to identify them.
The terminal will offer free internet and local phone calls. There will also be automated teller machines, money changers, televisions and food and beverage outlets — but there will be no poolside bar or other elaborate facilities included at Changi’s main terminals.
To keep operating costs down, the compact terminal will also do without escalators, travellators and aerobridges, CAAS said.
It will have 18 check-in counters, seven departure gates, 10 aircraft parking bays and three baggage claim belts.
The terminal, which can be expanded to handle up to five million passengers a year, will likely only break even after a few years, Yeo said.
“No venture becomes viable overnight. I think within a couple of years we should be able to break even so we expect for the first few years there will be a bit of a loss but that doesn’t matter; we are looking at the long-term.”
The new facility is known simply as Budget Terminal, a moniker chosen by a 15-year-old boy whose suggestion was picked from 12 000 entries in a contest to name the new facility, Caas said.
Malaysia in June broke ground on its own budget airline terminal, with regional low-cost pioneer AirAsia the only so far confirmed tenant, to rival Singapore’s facility.
The Kuala Lumpur International Airport terminal, to be completed within 14 months, would cost 100-million ringgit ($26-million) and handle up to 10-million passengers a year, the Malaysian government said.
Thailand aims to open its new international airport in June although some aviation officials doubt the date will be met. Budget carriers Nok Air, One Two Go and Thai AirAsia have said they plan to stay at the existing Don Muang airport. – AFP