When a new terminal opens in 2017 at Singapore's Changi Airport, the world's best for five years straight according to a survey, passengers will be able to, in theory, go through check-in to boarding without speaking to another person.
Automation is important for the city-state as it faces a labour crunch across many of its industries. It is also key for Changi given it is the world's sixth busiest for international traffic and is already operating close to total capacity, having last added a terminal almost a decade ago.
Changi will be using facial recognition technology to offer self-service options at check-in, bag drop, immigration and boarding at the new terminal T4 - which according to Corrine Png, CEO of transport research firm Crucial Perspective Pte, "will be the first in Asia to do so".
Changi expects the automated process at the new terminal - which has been constructed for S$985 million ($723.57 million) - to yield manpower savings of about 20 percent in the longer term. T4 will increase the airport's overall annual capacity by 16 million passengers to 82 million.
Nine airlines will operate at T4, including the Air Asia Group, Cathay Pacific, Cebu Pacific, Korean Air, Spring Airlines and Vietnam Airlines, Changi said.
With a gross floor area of 225,000 square metres, equivalent to about 30 soccer pitches, T4 is half the size of Changi's third terminal, but it will still be able to handle two-thirds the number of its passengers.
"One of the objectives for T4 was to use it as a test bed for new concepts, new technology and new equipment," said Poh Li San, Changi Airport Group's vice president, T4 Programme Management Office.
The city-state will have a fifth terminal up and running in about a decade that will be capable of handling 50 million passengers annually in its initial phase.
In 2016, passenger traffic in Changi hit a record high of 58.7 million. Routes to Southeast Asia, north east Asia and Oceania contributed 90 percent of the growth.
Crucial's Png expects Southeast Asia's air passenger traffic to grow 6 percent annually over the next five years, making Singapore's planned new terminals all the more timely.
Changi was named the world's best airport for a fifth consecutive time at this year's World Airport Awards, which is based on a survey of air travellers and is independent of any airport control.
Reuters
Tue Jul 25 2017
A journalist films a mini-theatre show on an LED screen in the "Heritage Zone" of the transit area during a media tour of Changi Airport Terminal 4 in Singapore, July 25, 2017. REUTERS
LIMA '25 pada 20-24 Mei 2025, ketengah kepentingan pemain industri
Timbalan Menteri Pertahanan Adly Zahari berkata LIMA '25 di pulau peranginan Langkawi, Kedah itu bertemakan Innovate Today, Thrive Tomorrow.
Najib diberi peluang jelaskan mengenai dokumen 1MDB ketika disoal siasat - Pegawai SPRM
Mahkamah Tinggi diberitahu bahawa Najib diberi peluang untuk menjelaskan secara terperinci mengenai dokumen berkaitan 1MDB, ketika disoal siasat.
Pantau Agenda Reformasi: Penstrukturan akaun & pengenalan akaun 3 KWSP
Ikuti kupasan penganalisis ekonomi Pusat Pengajian Siswazah Perniagaan, Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK), Prof. Emeritus Barjoyai Bardai mengenai penstrukturan akaun KWSP & pengenalan akaun 3.
Pihak dikaitkan dalam laporan berkaitan lesen kasino perlu ambil tindakan - PM Anwar
Laporan yang memetik satu sumber itu berkata perbincangan mengenai pemberian lesen itu masih di peringkat awal.
Freedom Flotilla to Gaza: 'Berhadapan tekanan Israel, FCC tiada istilah putus asa'
Pemeriksaan kapal penumpang, Akdeniz (Mediterranean) yang terlibat dalam misi Break The Siege Freedom Flotilla to Gaza dilaporkan sedang berjalan.
Niaga AWANI: Airasia Group bakal disenaraikan di Bursa Malaysia pada September - Tony Fernandes
AirAsia Group Sdn Bhd (AAG) bakal disenaraikan di Bursa Malaysia pada September, mengambil alih status penyenaraian AirAsia X Bhd, kata Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Capital A Bhd Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.fernandes, bursa Malaysia.
#NiagaAWANI
#NiagaAWANI
Niaga AWANI: Bekas CEO 7-Eleven, Hishammudin Hasan dilantik terajui Al-Ikhsan
Al-Ikhsan Sports Sdn Bhd, firma swasta dengan 35% pegangan milik
Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas) telah melantik Datuk Hishammudin Hasan sebagai ketua pegawai eksekutif (CEO) baharunya berkuat kuasa 17 April 2024.
#NiagaAWANI
Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas) telah melantik Datuk Hishammudin Hasan sebagai ketua pegawai eksekutif (CEO) baharunya berkuat kuasa 17 April 2024.
#NiagaAWANI
Niaga AWANI: MOT, KHAZANAH, MAG perlu perkukuh tadbir urus MAB
Jelas Perdana Menteri, pengurusan syarikat penerbangan yang baik juga akan memberi manfaat kepada kakitangan melalui gaji yang setimpal dengan perkhidmatan mereka.
#NiagaAWANI
#NiagaAWANI
Niaga AWANI: Vincent Tan tak terbabit rundingan lesen kasino Forest City
Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) menafikan laporan yang mengaitkan Pengasasnya, Tan Sri Vincent Tan terbabit dalam rundingan berkaitan lesen kasino di Forest City, Johor.
#NiagaAWANI
#NiagaAWANI
Niaga AWANI: Kadar antara bank jangka pendek ditutup kukuh susulan operasi BNM
Kadar antara bank jangka pendek ditutup kukuh pada Jumaat susulan operasi Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) menyerap lebihan mudah tunai daripada sistem kewangan.
#NiagaAWANI
#NiagaAWANI
COVID-19: Singapura lapor satu kes positif jangkitan awal bagi strain B117
Ia melibatkan seorang lelaki, berusia 24 tahun dari Korea yang merupakan pemegang pas kerja yang bekerja di Azur, Crowne Plaza Changi Airport, 75 Airport Boulevard.
Terminal 2 Changi digantung 18 bulan mulai 1 Mei depan
Operasi di Terminal 2 (T2) Lapangan Terbang Changi akan digantung selama 18 bulan mulai 1 Mei depan, menurut Changi Airport Group (CAG).
Lapangan Terbang Changi kendali 60 juta penumpang pada 2017
Changi Airport Group melakar detik bermakna dalam sejarah penubuhannya apabila mencatat pengendalian 60 juta penumpang pada 2017.
Lapangan Terbang Changi ambil robot sebagai 'tukang cuci'
Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa, Changi memperkenalkan empat robot sebagai petugas pembersih, lapor Chanel News Asia.
Viral kerana 'kacak', Lapangan Terbang Changi dedah identiti polis bantuan
Pegawai berkenaan bernama Lee Minwei yang berusia 22 tahun dan telah berkhidmat Lapangan Terbang Changi selama tujuh bulan.
Pesawat Singapore Airlines mengalami kerosakan teknikal
'Nose gear' atau roda ketiga sebuah pesawat Singapore Airlines telah mengalami kerosakan di Lapangan Terbang Changi, Singapura pagi tadi.
Singapura tutup lapangan terbang seletar
Penutupan terkini itu adalah bagi tempoh 12 jam sehingga 11 malam dan mungkin dilanjutkan, bergantung kepada tahap penglihatan.