Tourism Changi Airport

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Vol.14 • No. 8 • August 200411

TOURISM

Work in progressIn the meantime, Singapore is trying to secure it’s share of theglobal traveler. Only few people will have missed that Singapore’smain aviation hub remains a permanent work in progress. A majorexpansion, which will add a third terminal at Changi, is now underway and will cost S$1.5 billion and boost the airport’s passengercapacity by nearly 50 per cent to over 65 million passengers peryear till the year 2020.

The drawings for Changi’s terminal three - whichwill be situated directly opposite the secondterminal - were incorporated in Singapore’s originalairport master-plan, created up in second half of the ’70s.

The third terminal was originally supposed to open in 2004,but the Asian financial crisis and the subsequent SARSoutbreak undermined regional traffic growth andknocked the construction schedule back to 2006.

The expansion features the new terminal building as well as anew baggage handling facility. A key feature of this setup is ahigh-speed inter-terminal baggage transfer system. Baggage oftransfer passengers making connections at different terminals willbe transported individually through underground tunnels at a speedof over 25 Km/h. This means it will take only about three minutesfor a bag to be transported from one terminal to the other.

Another sophisticated feature is the new terminal’s roof which

consists of a series of skylights that allow natural light into thebuilding. At nighttime, artificial light will be directed at theceiling, again diffused by the louvres.

Bigger and betterFollowing Singapore Airline’s decision to be a launch-customerfor new Airbus A380 aircraft, eight of terminal three’s 28 gateswill have the capability to handle the new super jumbo. Whilstthe gates, the baggage handling system and the lounges of thenew terminal will all be designed with the A380 in mind, theairport’s existing airfield and terminal infrastructure will have to

be redeveloped. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS)has announced that it will:

s widen runway and taxiway intersections to make turningeasier (the runways and taxiways themselves are deemedsufficient to cope with the A380’s size and weight)

s downsize some gates to allow the A380 to use existing gateswithout compromising safe distances between aircraft

s add seating to departure lounges that will serve the A380expand the baggage handling system in Terminals 1 and 2 toaccommodate additional carousels and longer baggage belts

sCAAS is also investigating the need for a third arm on existingairbridges to service the top deck of the super jumbo



TOURISM

Airbus’ A380 range of planes starts from a baseline passengeraircraft which could be configured to hold 880 passengers in

a single class or, more likely, 555 spread across the three traditionalclasses and has a travel range of up to 15,000 km.

The enlarged Changi will be one of a new breed of super airports built tocater for an expected rise in passenger numbers. Even after the turbulence caused by

the September 11 attacks and amid the uncertainty over fresh conflict in Iraq, theInternational Air Transport Association forecasts that international passenger traffic willgrow 3.5 per cent a year until 2006.

“The environment is getting more competitive. There are newer and bigger airports inthe region and they all want to expand and get market share,” a CAAS spokesman said.“Of course, the pie will also get bigger so it is important and useful that the airportscontinue to improve and strengthen the network in the region, with each having a share

of the growing market.”

s p a c ethe final frontier?

Vol.14 • No. 8 • August 200412

SpaceShipOne coming in to landat the Mojave Civilian AerospaceTest Center in California

So Singapore is working on its position as the regional hub and

doesn’t drop any option to attract to global tourist. Recentlynews emerged that could give tourism in Singapore the final lift:Space Adventures, a company that plans to send people into sub-orbital flight, thinks the Republic has the right basis to act as itslaunch pad.

An independent feasibility study has confirmed that Singaporehas most of the infrastructure in place: the new runways,extended for the A380s, will be long enough to land and the skiesare not too crowded - so the special craft to send people abovethe Earth’s atmosphere can take off, said Mr Rob Volmer, vice-president of communications for Space Adventures, which is basedin the United States.

Singapore’s competitors for the project are the Bahamas, theUnited Arab Emirates, Australia and the US state of Oklahoma.When contacted, the Singapore Tourism Board said it was still indiscussions with Space Adventures. Although the infrastructure isin place, more has to be done before Singapore can be used tolaunch tourists into space. For one, a training facility for spacetravelers will have to be built. Staff will also be needed to maintainthe special aircraft.

Is it unrealistic? Not quite. Only months ago the first steps tobreaking a government monopoly on space travel and introducing10 dollars trips into space for the masses were taken in the UnitedStates by sending the world’s first privately-owned rocket intosuborbital space.

So for the rich and adventurous, S$200,000 could buy soon a holidayto space. It would be a four-day package, but the actual sub-

orbital flight to space lasts about 90 minutes. Most of the firstthree days will be spent preparing for the flight. The sub-orbitalflights will reach an altitude of 100km, just above the atmospherewhere tourists can experience up to five minutes of weightlessness.

Should Singapore be chosen as the location, it will take anothertwo to three years for the launch pad and training centrefacilities to be ready. Space tourists need to be in good healthbefore they are allowed to participate in the flights. At thestart of training, health screenings will be conducted. No otherspecial skills are required, but the pre-flight training programwill include sessions on zero gravity and its effects, flightcharacteristics, and safety procedures.

Now the only question is: if Singapore becomes a launch pad, areSingaporean tourists adventurous enough to take flight? Interestedyes, but probably most say they would rather spend the money onother things.

However, if one had $200,000 to spare, why not give it a go? Asan advertising account executive said: “I would try it just onetime, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing!” It would definitely be

Uniquely Singapore.

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Tourism Changi Airport