Singapore halts construction of Changi Airport’s new terminal due to COVID-19

Singapore has put on hold for two years construction of a mega terminal at its international airport in Changi, citing uncertainty created by COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating impact on aviation sector.

Singapore government is currently carrying out a study of how aviation sector will change, and that design of T5 (Terminal 5) will be changed to take into account new safety requirements, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said on Tuesday, anuncing a pause in terminal construction for at least two years.

Under rmal circumstances, government would have to start calling for major civil engineering tenders to meet its initial timeline for completing T5 in 2030s.

But until a vaccine is found, re will be fears of future waves of COVID-19 outbreaks, cautioned Khaw.

"Because of all se great uncertainties, we have been doing a major thorough study about aviation, and how it will be like in next two years, three years, four years, post-pandemic," Straits Times quoted Khaw as saying.

"We are consulting as widely as we can. Big questions remain, and we don't think we will get answers very quickly within next few months. It may take us a couple of years, and that is why we have decided to take a pause in T5 project... So at minimum, I think we will push it back by two years."

aviation sector worldwide has been hard hit by COVID-19 pandemic, with travel restrictions and fear of virus leing to plunging travel demand.

In April, Changi Airport handled 25,200 passenger movements, a 99.5 per cent drop from same time last year.

In response, terminal manr Changi Airport Group has shut down T2 for 18 months to facilitate upgring works. It has also temporarily closed T4.

T5 was scheduled to be completed around 2030. It covers a land area equivalent to about 667 football fields, and was earmarked to provide future capacity for airport to ride on projected growth in air travel.

It was to handle up to 50 million passengers per year in its initial phase, according to Straits Times report.

This, along with T2's upgring works, would have brought Changi Airport's total passenger handling capacity to around 140 million passengers per year.

Tre and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing said in a national dress on Sunday that Singapore's major infrastructure projects, including Changi T5, will be completed, even though timelines may shift.

On Tuesday, Singapore reported 151 new coronavirus cases, all among foreign workers, taking total infections to 40,969 since disease tracing began in January 2020.

So far, 26 people have died due to COVID-19 complications.