S'pore's investment in Changi Airport Terminal 5 coming at the right time, says Iata chief
Expected to cost billions to build, T5 is designed to handle about 50 million passengers a year when it opens in the mid-2030s. PHOTO: CHANGI AIRPORT GROUP
S'pore's investment in Changi Airport Terminal 5 coming at the right time, says Iata chief
– Singapore is making the investment to construct Changi Airport Terminal 5 (T5) at the right time, as South-east Asia is set to be among the fastest growing aviation markets in the world, said the head of the global trade body for airlines.
'It's a very sensible development,' International Air Transport Association (Iata) director-general Willie Walsh told reporters on June 3, during a roundtable for Asian media at the association's annual meeting in New Delhi.
'It will be important to ensure that the capacity is available ahead of the demand, especially for an airport like Singapore, which prides itself in terms of the standard of service that it provides to airline customers and to airlines themselves,' Mr Walsh said.
'South-east Asia is the part of the world where we'll probably see the strongest growth, going forward,' he added, noting the rapid pace of growth in India and China as well.
Expected to cost billions to build, T5 is designed to handle about 50 million passengers a year when it opens in the mid-2030s. This will allow Changi Airport to handle 140 million passengers yearly, up from 90 million today.
Mr Walsh, an industry veteran who was chief executive of British Airways, said Iata supports the development of the new mega terminal in Singapore, noting that the association has been in close dialogue with the airport operator and the Government about it.
He lamented the fact that many other airports around the world do not fully understand the needs of airlines, which leads to developments that are not appropriate or more expensive than needed.
Responding to a question about taxation in India, he said airlines will always have an issue with airport charges.
'The view of airlines is we want efficient airport operations at a cost-effective price, and that means we want to see airports make sensible long-term investments that can be afforded by the industry,' Mr Walsh said.
'It clearly requires more dialogue between airlines and airports, and where we see airlines and airports working together, it's incredibly effective,' he added.
Asked about Singapore's plans to consolidate the operations of national carrier Singapore Airlines and its budget arm Scoot at T5, and whether there is a need to ensure fairness for other carriers, Mr Walsh said this happens at any other major air hub.
'For a hub airport to be successful, it requires the hub airport infrastructure, but also the hub airline... If you've got the major hub operator, you've got to have facilities that work for them,' he added.
Given the growth that is expected in the wider Asian region, Mr Walsh said there is also sufficient demand to support the emergence of new regional hubs, in addition to the existing ones.
'The critical issue is you have to have the network,' he said, in response to a question about Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport's aspirations to be a hub in East Asia.
'What you often get with these airports is you get a lot of services, but not necessarily connected,' Mr Walsh added.
At an earlier press conference on June 3, Indigo chief executive Pieter Elbers pointed to increased connectivity between India and South-east Asia as a driver of new traffic and opportunities.
He said India is functioning, to some extent, as a growth engine for South-east Asia, and Indigo, a low cost-carrier and India's largest airline, has added a lot of new flights to the region, to 'enormous response' from both markets.
'We see a lot of new traffic developing between India and South-east Asia – to Thailand to Malaysia to Singapore,' said Mr Elbers. 'So the growth in India is not only domestic growth, it is also regional growth.'
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