Changi Airport awards S$323m T1 upgrade contract to Takenaka

SINGAPORE — Changi Airport Group (CAG) said yesterday it had awarded Japan’s Takenaka Corp a S$323 million contract for work to expand the airport’s Terminal 1 following a tender.

Takenaka will be revamping the T1 Departure Check-in Hall.

The work involves the replacement of existing counters and the installation of two new check-in rows to increase passenger handling capacity, CAG said.

“A cluster of five retail and dining outlets located at the T1 Departure Hall will discontinue operations in the second quarter of 2015 to allow for the commencement of construction for these check-in rows,” it said. Other retail and dining outlets at the terminal will still operate.

The expansion work in T1 will also support the upgrading of the baggage handling system from a semi-automated to a fully automated system, as in the other terminals.

Certain places within T1’s apron areas, where planes park or manoeuvre, and the T1 Arrival Immigration Hall will be reconfigured to make space for the new system and supporting infrastructure.

“The new baggage handling system will have automatic sorting capability to better support the implementation of self check-in and self bag-drop functions at T1, as well as early check-in facilities at Jewel Changi Airport,” CAG said.

“This will improve productivity for airlines and ground handlers, as well as increase check-in capacity,” it added.

Two additional arrival baggage claim carousels will be installed to further increase capacity. The work on the baggage handling system will be performed by Netherlands’ Vanderlande Industries, said CAG.

Calling the expansion work for T1 “challenging”, Mr Fong Kok Wai, CAG’s executive vice-president of engineering and development, said the airport group hopes to deliver “a much-needed increase in the capacity” of the oldest terminal to serve passengers better.

Work will begin this month and is expected to be completed in 2019. CHANNEL NEWSASIA