EXCLUSIVE!! JANUARY UPDATES ON CHANGI'S AIRPORT

Notes from Blogmaster

Hi, and welcome to another EXCLUSIVE column. As the Changi Airport, Singapore, opened another Terminal, there are a lot of news and updates which visitors should know. Congratulation, Singapore!!

After this exclusive column, I'll start working with the next part of the Portugal series.

**SINGAPORE CHANGI AIRPORT TERMINAL 3 OPENS FOR OPERATIONS**

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Singapore Changi Airport’s new Terminal 3 commenced scheduled flight operations today 9 Jan. 2008, witnessed by Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Raymond Lim. After months of intensive preparatory tests and trials of various airport systems, the new terminal handled its first arrival flight from San Francisco at 1150 hours and saw its first departure flight at 1250 hours to London.

Accompanied by Mr Liew Mun Leong, Chairman, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and CAAS senior management officials, Minister Lim personally welcomed passengers onboard the first arrival flight, Singapore Airlines flight SQ001. Passengers were also greeted with a lively traditional lion dance performance and received gift bags containing congratulatory certificates for being on the first flight.

CREDIT: TRAVELDAILYNEWS

Minister Lim said “I am delighted that Terminal 3 has now come to fruition. The opening of Terminal 3 marks a significant milestone for Changi Airport as it will increase Changi Airport’s total annual capability to about 70 million passenger movements, enhancing its position as the regional aviation hub. With this new terminal, we are poised to meet the demands of the growing tourist and business traffic in and out of Singapore, especially when the two integrated resorts start their operations.”

Credit: WIKIPEDIA

At Terminal 3, travellers and airport visitors will also get to enjoy varied shopping and dining options from over 100 retail shops and 40 food & beverage outlets. More than 35% of the retailers at Terminal 3 are new to Changi Airport. In addition, the introduction of a number of “first-of-its-kind” outlets, innovative and interactive features in airport shop concepts as well as the greater presence of popular retail and dining establishments will add vibrancy to the shopping and dining scene at the new terminal.

With the opening of Terminal 3, Singapore Airlines’ long-haul flights will operate out of Terminal 3 and its regional flights will operate out of Terminal 2. Four other airlines, namely China Eastern Airlines, Jet Airways, Qatar Airways and United Airlines, will commence operations at Terminal 3 in March 2008.

Credit: WIKIPEDIA

Terminal 3 and its associated works cost S$1.75 billion. It adds a capacity of 22 million passengers per annum to Changi Airport, bringing the airport’s total annual capability to about 70 million passenger movements. Terminal 3 also adds another 28 aerobridge gates to Changi Airport. Among the 28 aerobridge gates are eight gates that are designed to handle the A380 aircraft, bring the total of A380 gates at Changi Airport to 19 across all three main terminals.

SOURCE: http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/24047

**CHANGI AIRPORT ENHANCES INTERNET SECURITY**

Monday, January 14, 2008

Singaporean network and security solutions provider, Advanced Network Technology Laboratories (ANTlabs), announced the launch of its Securite solution to secure Changi Airport with The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS). The advanced anti-data theft solution is deployed airport-wide on the free-Internet access terminals at Changi airport.

According to ANTlabs, the Securite solution prevents viruses and spy-ware from stealing user information when they surf the Internet, giving passengers the confidence to know that their private and sensitive data is safe at all levels when they check their email and transact online at Changi Airport. With over 300 free Internet access terminals throughout the airport, Changi Airport is renowned for having one of the most populous airport-wide free Internet kiosk service for passengers in the world, with over 1.3 million business and leisure travelers alike using the service annually.

“We are delighted to forge this relationship with CAAS. It is a testament to our achievements and ambitions in the security space. This win represents the next phase of our growth and will take ANTlabs beyond our traditional boundaries and provide a springboard for our expansion on the world stage,” said Mr Ang Kwang Tat, CEO of ANTlabs. “Our Securite solution is gathering momentum in the market and we aim to expand our presence in other regions as well as tying up the home front, and we hope to elevate the appeal of our offerings following the successful roll-out at Changi Airport.”

CREDIT: TRAVELDAILYNEWS

**SINGAPORE CHANGI AIRPORT REGISTERS ANOTHER RECORD YEAR FOR PASSENGER TRAFFIC**

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

2007 marked another year of records for Singapore Changi Airport. Passenger traffic hit an all-time high of 36.7 million in 2007. This represents a 4.8% growth over 2006. The traditional peak travel month of December 2007 also set a record for the highest monthly traffic at Changi Airport. More than 3.5 million passengers went through the airport, a 3% increase compared to 3.42 million passengers handled in the previous year. The third record set is the number of passengers processed in a day. 125,000 passengers passed through Changi Airport on 15 December 2007, surpassing the previous record of 121,680 passengers handled on 16 December 2006.

The increase in passenger traffic can be attributed to the continued strong growth from key markets such as China, which registered 12.6% growth, and India, with a 15.6% increase. Emerging markets such as Vietnam, Russia and South Africa also saw double digit growth in traffic at 24.4%, 27.7% and 15.1% respectively.

Changi Airport continued to win Best Airport awards in 2007, garnering 19 last year. This takes the total number of Best Airport awards won to more than 280 since 1987. The 2007 accolades include Business Traveller (UK/Europe) “Best Airport in the World” award, which Changi won for the 20th consecutive time, and the Asian Freight & Supply Chain Awards for “Best Airport – Asia” for the 21st consecutive time.The Budget Terminal also won the “Best Low Cost Airport” award last year at the World Low Cost Airline Congress.

Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, CAAS, Mr Lim Kim Choon said, “2007 was a good year for Changi Airport, marked by exciting developments like the world’s first A380 commercial flight taking off from Changi Airport. Five new airlines, including Jett8 Airlines Cargo, Etihad Airways and Mihin Lanka, joined the Changi family last year.”

Mr Lim added, “We got off to a good start in 2008, with the opening of Terminal 3. Changi Airport is in good stead to tap on the strong demand for air travel. Even as we handle an increasing number of passengers, our priority is still to deliver our exceptional ‘Changi Experience’ to our passengers.”

As at 1 January 2008, Changi Airport is served by 81 airlines operating more than 4,310 weekly scheduled flights to 190 cities in 60 countries.

Operational Statistics (FROM WIKIPEDIA) Year---Passengermovements---Airfreightmovements(tonnes)---Aircraftmovements 1998------23,803,180------------------1,283,660---------------------165,242 1999------26,064,645------------------1,500,393---------------------165,961 2000------28,618,200------------------1,682,489---------------------173,947 2001------28,093,759------------------1,507,062---------------------179,359 2002------28,979,344------------------1,637,797---------------------174,820 2003------24,664,137------------------1,611,407---------------------154,346 2004------30,353,565------------------1,775,092---------------------184,932 2005------32,430,856------------------1,833,721---------------------204,138 2006------35,033,083------------------1,931,881---------------------214,000 2007------36,701,556------------------1,918,159

SOURCE: TRAVELDAILYNEWS