SINGAPORE - The new Changi Airport Terminal 5 will be designed so that it can be split and operated as smaller sub-terminals when needed, with spaces that can be converted into quarantine or testing facilities during pandemic times.
Passenger touchpoints will also be contactless, and there will be ventilation systems that can be activated to increase fresh air or minimise the mixing of air when there is a threat of airborne disease, said the Ministry of Transport (MOT) on Sunday (Aug 21).
Drawing from the lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic, the features will make the airport more resilient and able to handle future pandemics more nimbly, MOT said.
The construction of T5, which was halted because of the pandemic, will start in about two years.
Details of the design were unveiled in tandem with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally on Sunday (Aug 21).
In his speech, which gave updates on T5, PM Lee said the new terminal will be able to scale operations up and down more easily, and isolate passengers from different flights to limit cross-infection when future pandemics hit.
It will also be greener and more energy efficient.
With borders reopening and people travelling again, the future of aviation remains bright, PM Lee added.
"When completed in the mid-2030s, T5 will show the world what sort of place Singapore is," he said.
"Our decisions to press on with Changi T5 and Tuas Port send a strong and clear signal to the world that Singapore is emerging stronger from the pandemic and charging full steam ahead."
PM Lee first spoke about Singapore's plans for a fifth terminal 10 years ago - in 2013 - and planning for it began a year later.
A mega terminal that should serve 50 million passengers a year, T5 is bigger than T1 and T3 put together, and is expected to open in the mid-2030s to meet a doubling of travel volume in the region then.
In its statement, MOT said T5 is designed with the flexibility to be built in two phases, in line with traffic growth.
On Sunday, MOT said the terminal will be ready for viable alternative fuels, including greener sustainable aviation fuel made from used feedstock which the industry believes must be widely used by aircraft for air travel to meet its emissions target of net zero by 2050.
T5 is located within the 1,080ha Changi East development, which is Changi Airport's largest expansion project to date and also includes the Changi East Urban District, a business and lifestyle destination next to the terminal.
MOT said the development of this will be done in consultation with the Ministry of National Development, Urban Redevelopment Authority and other agencies when the time comes.
PM Lee added: "Passenger traffic has already exceeded half of pre-Covid-19 levels. In the longer term, air travel will keep growing because of a fast-expanding middle class in our region.
"T5 will be a place that all Singaporeans can take pride in."
