It looks like passenger traffic could finally start to pick up again at Singapore Changi, as the airport has seen a 99.5% drop in passenger numbers, and has closed both Terminal 2 and Terminal 4.
In this post:
Singapore Changi will welcome transit passengers
Changi Airport is consistently rated the best airport in the world, and is also a very popular transit hub. Since late March the airport has been closed to transit passengers (with the exception of repatriation flights), and there’s now a plan for that to be reversed.
As of June 2, 2020, Changi Airport will once again welcome transit passengers.
This is part of Singapore’s strategy of gradually reopening air travel in the country to meet the needs of people and the economy while still providing sufficient safeguards for safe travel.
Don’t expect that Changi Airport will suddenly be bustling as of June 2, though. The airport has seen an unprecedented drop in terms of the number of flights. Presumably Singapore Airlines will now be able to rework their schedule a bit to account for transit passengers, but as of now they have a very limited schedule for all of June.
For example, in the entire moth of June, Singapore Airlines has a total of 13 flights scheduled to the US, as the airline will simply operate 13x roundtrip flights from Singapore to Los Angeles.
Cuts are similarly drastic in other regions.
Singapore Airlines will again be able to carry transit passengers
There will be significant transit restrictions
Transit passengers won’t be allowed to enter the country (and that includes visiting The Jewel, since it’s landside), and there’s no timeline yet by which Singapore will allow foreigners in, as currently only citizens and permanent residents are allowed to return to the country.
Transit passengers won’t be able to access The Jewel
Not only that, but the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore promises “stringent measures” to ensure that passengers remain in designated facilities in the transit area and do not mix with other passengers at the airport.
We’ll have to see how this all works in practice, since ultimately any given flight will have both transit passengers and passengers originating or terminating at Changi.
It sounds to me like the airport may be trying to temporarily limit the amount of interaction that airport staff have with transit passengers, to mitigate risk as much as possible.
Changi transits will come with restrictions
Bottom line
Changi Airport is arguably the world’s best transit hub, and as of June 2 the airport will once again be open to transit passengers. This should allow Singapore Airlines to strategically operate more flights in markets with lots of connecting passengers.
It’s still far from a return to normal, but it’s better than nothing.
I just tried to book a flight, the title is misleading. It is only opening up to transit for repatriation flights organised by your government.
“ Currently, foreign passengers may only transit through Singapore if they are on repatriation flights arranged by their governments. The decision will allow passengers to transit through Singapore more easily.”
Singapore has been doing great in handling the covid pandemic. At least Singapore didn’t screw up like US or Europe did. Look at countries like the US, Italy, UK, Germany etc. These countries have performed horribly in this pandemic
I was so lucky to tour the planet for 22 years and even though I did not make Big Money which I missed out on I got to see things that money could never buy. It was fun flying Singapore Air first
Class from Lax to Changi with stop in Narita for 60000m miles. When coast is clear and Virus is ancient history middle seats in economy will be with big smiles.
CR - you are correct. Mrs Ourmanin and I live in Singapore, I had to return to the UK in early March for business and family matters, still not able to get permission to re-enter. And woe betide anyone that just turns up! Stories of people having there Employment Passes cancelled unilaterally. We are used to spending significant time apart due to work commitments but we know of people for who it has placed an...
CR - you are correct. Mrs Ourmanin and I live in Singapore, I had to return to the UK in early March for business and family matters, still not able to get permission to re-enter. And woe betide anyone that just turns up! Stories of people having there Employment Passes cancelled unilaterally. We are used to spending significant time apart due to work commitments but we know of people for who it has placed an enormous strain on their personal situations. Whilst acknowledging the rationale behind it, it has to be remembered that one of the reasons that so many are drawn to Singapore has historically been the ease of travel in and out. The fact that the drawbridge was pulled up so dramatically and rapidly, will, I suspect, have many considering their future plans.
@Wigmore I dunno where you travel to/from but most airports I've been to don't have the kind of limitations you imply for transiting passengers. You can always shop during transit in my experience and you always end up mingling with the other passengers at some point before transit.
Based on several media reports it looks likely borders will open in phases. The Baltic countries already opened their borders to each other, and many other countries have done so or are discussing it. Some of these are a bit odd on paper, however it is based on similar levels of corona cases. The Nordic countries (less Sweden) are in discussions with Germany, Austria, Greece, Israel and Singapore for instance.
Countries with high transmission...
Based on several media reports it looks likely borders will open in phases. The Baltic countries already opened their borders to each other, and many other countries have done so or are discussing it. Some of these are a bit odd on paper, however it is based on similar levels of corona cases. The Nordic countries (less Sweden) are in discussions with Germany, Austria, Greece, Israel and Singapore for instance.
Countries with high transmission rates like the USA, U.K. and Sweden are likely to meet closed borders many places until they get better control internally.
Personally I’m in no hurry to resume travel. The added hassle, closure of attractions & restaurants plus the risk of suddenly getting stranded should more waves appear has put me off until things become clearer (and better).
As long as we don't have to fight over wheel chair .Every time w we come to Singapore we have to fight over wheel chair and if they don't have enough .They charge $250.00 I think is a Joke
Singapore has taken such a draconian approach to this. You'd think it was New York. It isn't. They've locked down their entire economy despite having consistently sub 30 people in the ICU and around 20 deaths. This despite the spike of cases they saw being in a well defined (and isolatable) set of locations (foreign worker dorms).
The reality is that voluntary social distancing is (and was) working fine here outside of the dorms...
Singapore has taken such a draconian approach to this. You'd think it was New York. It isn't. They've locked down their entire economy despite having consistently sub 30 people in the ICU and around 20 deaths. This despite the spike of cases they saw being in a well defined (and isolatable) set of locations (foreign worker dorms).
The reality is that voluntary social distancing is (and was) working fine here outside of the dorms where people live up to 12 to a room. Note - despite thousands of cases in these dorms no one has died from the disease. An important data point for every other country. Never the less they've spent billions instead and created a bunch of political issues for themselves. The SG government shows no signs of waking up to reality anytime soon - the daily press conferences and media are still full of fear/uncertainty with good news buried away from the headlines. They're insisting on a painful, gradual release from measures and indefinitely suspending some businesses beyond that. This while spending billions and billions (which luckily they have in reserve versus the US!) to try and prop things up. If only this money was channeled into other areas of research etc to genuinely push human progress on cancer and other conditions which continue killing.
I wouldn't expect any access to Singapore anytime soon except from zero-case countries. This sounds a little dramatic, but given how they're handling things so far I'd honestly be fearful of being dragged into involuntary quarantine for happening to be in the same half of the terminal as someone who is diagnosed during transit. Watch and wait would be my advice.
I suppose it's now obvious Changi made a strategic error in design years ago in that there is no separate transit area within the airport to keep those transit persons isolated
, like nearly every other worldwide airport . Obviously this was done to allow the transitees to do some shopping in between flights...and now the price is being paid !
@George, I travel plenty, and will continue doing so.
However, I don't troll Lucky's blog with nonsense.
What's pretty interesting is that those with Employment Passes/Work Visas that were outside of Singapore when restrictions started going in to effect in March -before the Circuit Breaker- still don't seem to have much of a chance to be able to get back in to Singapore *UNLESS* you're in an essential sector...someone correct me if I am wrong here, but that has to be agonizing for a lot of people.
hahahahah is "George" the new "Debit"?
Reaper-
I actually dislike Singapore, and don't fly Star carriers (well, I did book some Turkish flights yesterday).
I'm doing an 11 month trip to hit another 40+ countries, and going to avoid Singapore if I can.
Too hot, too.. sterile. Not a fan.
More than that:
I think the more people like you DON'T TRAVEL - the better for everyone else.
These are some of the best traveling times of my...
Reaper-
I actually dislike Singapore, and don't fly Star carriers (well, I did book some Turkish flights yesterday).
I'm doing an 11 month trip to hit another 40+ countries, and going to avoid Singapore if I can.
Too hot, too.. sterile. Not a fan.
More than that:
I think the more people like you DON'T TRAVEL - the better for everyone else.
These are some of the best traveling times of my entire life. Everything is easy.
I applaud that you are staying home.
Please keep doing it!!
@Stanley airline lounges are airside, so assuming they are open, they should be accessible.
The Jewel is landside.
So transit passengers are confined only within certain areas? What about airline lounges? Not allowed to visit them?
Looks like it's gonna be a hard pass for me.
99.5% passenger drop . That number is off. I heard 99.6%
In before George trolls that this is good news, since he has 27 transits through Changi booked for this summer.