Changi Airport’s Terminal 4 (T4) opened on October 31 by welcoming passengers of Cathay Pacific and Korean Air. Cathay Pacific flight CX659 from Hong Kong was the first flight to arrive at the new terminal at 05:40 hours. Its passengers were warmly welcomed with orchids and goodie bags as they stepped into the terminal. Passengers departing on the first departure flight CX650, bound for Hong Kong at 06:50 hours, were also treated to celebratory activities at the G19 boarding gate area.
By the end of the first day T4 handled 19 arrival and departure flights carrying about 4,200 passengers. Cathay Pacific and Korean Air are the first two of nine airlines to be operating at Changi’s brand-new terminal. Korea Air’s first arrival and departure flights at T4 took place at 19:55 hours and 22:30 hours respectively.
At the opening event, Mr Tan Lye Teck, Changi Airport Group’s Executive Vice President for Airport Management said: “After five years in the making, we are very happy to commence operations at T4. The new terminal will increase Changi Airport’s capacity by another 16 million passenger movements per annum (mppa), bringing the total to 82 mppa. T4 is expected to handle about eight million passenger movements in its first year of operation. More importantly, we are now able to deliver an even better travel experience to Changi’s passengers.
“We are thankful that everything has been smooth so far today. Our operations teams will continue to keep a close eye on the various systems to ensure that passengers enjoy a seamless travel experience at T4. We look forward to welcoming the other T4 airlines, which will start their operations progressively on 2 and 7 November.” [Cebu Pacific and Spring Airlines begin operations at T4 on November 2, while the AirAsia Group (of four airlines) and Vietnam Airlines will do so on November 7.]
