Back in 2012, Changi Airport made the surprising move to demolish its Budget Terminal to make way for its expansion projects. Among them is the new, 225,000 square metres Terminal 4, With a capacity of 16 million passengers yearly (two-third of Terminal 3), it is expected to increase Changi Airport's operational capacity to a total of 82 million passengers.
List of confirmed airlines flying from the new Terminal 4:
Air Asia
Cathay Pacific
Cebu Pacific
Korean Air
Spring Airlines
Vietnam Airlines
The new terminal promises a travel experience of the future, which is expected to bring all the pre-departure procedures to become more seamless and efficient for every passenger.
Nicknamed the Fast and Seamless Travel (FAST), this new procedure includes a machine-assisted self check-in & baggage drop, and automated immigration clearance (for eligible passport holders).
The terminal's transit area features a number of restaurants and a 24-hours food court, along with a number of duty free stores.
Airlines that are going to operate out of Terminal 4 showcase their product offerings in the terminal's transit area.
Abundant of comfortable sofa for everyone to wait for their next flight. Not to mention, each seat has its own USB and electric plug to charge your devices.
Further inside the transit area, there will be a space called the heritage zone. Housing mostly local brands, this zone is created based on the old Peranakan houses that you can still see around the city today. Also, every one hour, the two middle shop-houses will transform into a huge LED screen, playing a theatrical performance called the "Peranakan Love Story" which you can view at Changi Airport's Youtube channel here
Hidden behind the stores on the transit area are all the boarding gates, starting with the prefix "G" for all the departure gates. As you might notice from this picture, unlike the other Changi Airport terminals, security screening is done at a centralised point after passport control, instead of each departure gates.
Part of the FAST journey experience, you can just simply scan the barcode on your boarding pass, whereby the automatic gate will open and grant you access to your flight, once they manage to verify your boarding pass. Obviously, there will still be a staff member present to assist you, should you encounter difficulties with the system.
Another notable difference with the other Changi Airport terminals is that, as arriving passengers you will be directed to a dedicated arrivals level below, which means incoming passengers do not need to pass through the transit area to reach the airport's baggage claim and passport control.
The arrivals level consist of a long hallway towards the airport's passport control and baggage claim area.
Some of you might have heard that this terminal will not be linked with the Skytrain, and instead shuttle buses will arrive and depart according to a schedule. Therefore, you will need to take buses that goes to T2 or T3 if the MRT is your preferred option of transport to the city.
The grand arrival hall and its kinetic petalclouds will greet every passenger arriving to the city-state.
Following passport control, you will be on the airport's baggage claim area that resembles those in Terminals 1 and 3.
Well, that concludes the tour of the new Terminal 4. Rumors have it that this airport will be operational by the end of this year (2017), although CAG have not come up with exact date yet, given that more testings and several works are still ongoing before this terminal is operational.
However, we are grateful to be part of this open house and looking forward to fly from T4 someday. Thanks for reading!
So, what do you think of this terminal? Leave a comment below or reach me out through Instagram!