(KPL/VNA) Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on May 14 broke ground on Changi Airport Terminal 5 (T5), an expansion project that will position the airport to ride an expected surge in air travel within the Asia – Pacific and beyond, according to The Straits Times.

The new terminal, powered by advanced automated systems, will significantly enhance processing capacity, optimise operations, and capitalise on emerging opportunities as travel demand continues to surge in the coming decades.

National carrier Singapore Airlines and its budget arm Scoot will consolidate their operations under one roof at T5 when the facility opens in the mid-2030s.

Designed to handle about 50 million passengers a year, T5 will effectively double the size of Changi Airport and allow it to handle 140 million passengers yearly, boosting its current capacity of 90 million by more than 55%.

Passenger traffic in the Asia-Pacific, already the world’s largest air travel market, taking about a third of the global share, is projected to double in the 2040s.

At present, Changi Airport is linked to more than 170 cities. With T5, the airport will be able to reach its target of more than 200 city links by the mid-2030s.

Works completed so far include a new runway, the airport’s third; an underpass for vehicular traffic; and tunnels for baggage and automated people-mover systems similar to the Skytrain.

In a first for the airport, T5 will house a ground transport centre, bringing together the Thomson-East Coast and Cross Island MRT lines, buses, taxis and other transport services.

T5 will have overlapping curved roofs with varying heights, in a nod to “Singapore’s unique blend of nature and city,” said the Changi Airport Group.

KPL