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Singapore Changi Airport 2007Singapore - Southeast Asia Singapore Changi Airport is a major aviation hub in Asia, particularly in the Southeast Asian region, and is the main airport in Singapore. Located in Changi on a 13 square kilometres (5.0 sq mi) site, it is about 17.2 kilometres (10.7 mi) north-east from the commercial centre. The airport is operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and is the home base of Singapore Airlines, Singapore Airlines Cargo, SilkAir, Tiger Airways, Jetstar Asia Airways, Valuair, and Jett8 Airlines Cargo. It is a major hub for Garuda Indonesia and Qantas. As of June 2007, there are about 4,186 weekly flights operated by 81 airlines to over 185 cities in 58 countries. An important contributor to the Singapore economy, 13,000 people are employed at the airport. The airport accounts for over S$4.5 billion in output. In 2007, the airport handled a record 36.7 million passengers, a 4.8% increase over the 2006 fiscal year. This made it the 22nd busiest airport in the world and the fifth busiest in Asia by passenger traffic. In addition to being an important passenger traffic hub, the airport is one of the busiest cargo airports in the world, handling 1.89 million tonnes of cargo in 2007. Incentives like the Air Hub Development Fund, first introduced in 2003, have proven effective in attracting airlines here. A new S$300 million fund to strengthen Changi's hub status will start in 2007 when the S$210 million fund expires in 2006. The new S$1.75 billion Terminal 3 opened on 9 January 2008, and Terminal 1 will be upgraded along the lines of the renovated Terminal 2, with the latter costing S$240 million. Changi has been courting both premium and budget travelers with the opening of a commercially important persons terminal by JetQuay and a S$45 million Budget Terminal in 2006. Since its opening in 1981, the airport has made its mark in the aviation industry as a benchmark for service excellence, winning over 280 awards in a 20-year period from 1987 to 2007 and with 19 Best Airport awards won in 2007 alone Changi Airport's efforts to counter the onset of age include periodic physical upgrades to its existing terminals, building of new facilities and taking steps to provide a high level of customer service. History Growth in the global aviation transport was felt in Singapore, where Singapore International Airport at Paya Lebar, Singapore's third main civilian airport after Seletar Airport (main airport from 1930-37, still in use today for private aviation and limited commercial flights) and Kallang Airport (1937-55), was facing congestion problems. Opened in 1955 with a single runway and a small passenger terminal, its inability to cope with the rising traffic became critical by the 1970s, when passenger numbers rose dramatically from 300,000 to 1,700,000 passengers annually in 1970 and 4,000,000 annually in 1975. The government had two options available: expand the existing airport at Paya Lebar or build a completely new airport at another location. After extensive study, a decision was made in 1972 to keep the airport at Paya Lebar as recommended by a British aviation consultant. Plans were created for the building of a second runway and an extensive redevelopment and expansion to the passenger terminal building. A year later, however, the plans were reviewed again due to the 1973 oil crisis. Concerned that the existing airport was located in an area with potential for urban growth which would physically hem it in on all sides and limit its physical growth, the government subsequently decided in 1975 to build a new airport at the eastern tip of the main island at Changi at the site of Changi Airbase that was renamed from RAF Changi post-independence, and in turn renamed Changi Airbase (West), where the new airport would be easily expandable by land reclamation. However, the airport still had to be expanded during that period of time as there was an increase in traffic at that time. In addition, airplanes could fly over the sea, avoiding noise pollution issues within residential areas like those at Paya Lebar and helping to avoid disastrous consequences on the ground in the event of an air mishap. The airport in Paya Lebar was subsequently converted for military use as the Paya Lebar Airbase. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (see Copyrights for details). About Wikipedia Disclaimers I visited Singapore in 1978 for the first time on our way to and from Europe with my daughter Sarolta. Singapore was a very different place in those days in retrospect and a real tourist attraction. Since those days Singapore under went radical changes developing as a dynamic business centre in South-east Asia. My wife Hui Chin came from Singapore and my relation with the city changed, understandably. Most of the times travel from or coming back to New Zealand involves a stopover or two in Singapore, especially to Europe and most parts of Asia. Singapore is a beautiful, rapidly developing place. I've witnessed it's development over the years. Sure is a hot place. In 2005 Hui Chin and I spent some time in Singapore. I had two digital cameras and spent some time exploring the rapidly changing city's many landmark buildings, monuments and other attractions. Here are some samples for you to feast your eyes on. 2007 Hui Chin and were fortunate enough to spend some time in this nice city again. Have a look at some of my photos.
2007
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