SINGAPORE. Changi Airport Group (CAG) today announced that operations at Terminal 2 will be suspended for 18 months from 1 May. The airport company said it is making the move “in view of the steep decline in passenger traffic and the likelihood that air travel demand will not return to pre-Covid-19 levels in the near term”.
Ceasing flights from T2 will save on running costs such as utilities and cleaning, said CAG, and allow the airport to match lower travel demand across the other terminals. It will also allow for current T2 expansion works to be accelerated with expected completion, currently scheduled for 2024, brought forward by up to one year. CAG said it is “in discussion with airport partners and concessionaires in T2 regarding options available to them”.
Because of the small number of flights at Terminal 4, operations have been scaled down with a small number of boarding gates in use and shops allowed to close after the last flight for the day has left. If the remaining airlines in T4 choose to suspend flights, operations there may be halted temporarily, added CAG.
As reported, stores and restaurants at Changi Airport have been sharply affected by the reduced air passenger traffic and weakened consumer demand. In February, CAG pledged that concessionaires would receive assistance, including an initial -50% rebate on their monthly basic rental costs for six months, effective from 1 February.
Today, CAG said that it has been “in discussion with the concessionaires on assistance measures based on their business circumstance. For instance, CAG has waived all rentals for concessions operating in T4 for two months from 24 March 2020 given the very low passenger traffic in the terminal”.
Asked by The Moodie Davitt Report how CAG is offering further relief to tenants, a spokesperson said: “Changi Airport Group has been working closely with our tenants since the start of the Covid-19 situation and assisting tenants on various fronts, including rental rebates and reduction in operating hours.
“Specifically, regarding the operating hours, we have also been giving tenants flexibility of adjusting their operating hours for them to better manage manpower deployment and will continue to monitor the situation closely and render additional support, if required.
“Given the very low passenger traffic at Changi Airport, our commercial tenants continue to face great difficulty sustaining their businesses. By suspending operations at Terminal 2, retail concessionaires operating in multiple terminals can choose to consolidate into fewer outlets to manage costs, while concessionaires operating only in T2 can choose to suspend their contracts for the duration of the terminal’s suspension. For concessionaires who prefer to discontinue operations, their pre-termination fees will also be waived.”
CAG said that it, along with partners, has been identifying retraining and redeployment opportunities for airport staff. Ground handler SATS is sending staff for training courses to train them as airside drivers to support airlines. CAG is partnering with Certis Aviation Security to streamline and right-size its operations such as the deployment of security officers at pre-boarding security screening stations and at access control points to restricted areas.
CAG Executive Vice President of Airport Management Tan Lye Teck said: “With airlines suspending flights in response to the sharply reduced travel demand, the consolidation efforts seek to help our airport partners during this difficult time. While the scale of our operations will be reduced in the near term, Changi Airport remains open to serve the airfreight and passenger flights that continue to operate. Even as our airport capacity is being optimised for the current situation, we will have the flexibility and we stand ready to ramp up operations quickly once the recovery takes place.”
