New S$50m Seletar Airport terminal to handle 700,000 passengers a year

SINGAPORE — Seletar Airport’s new passenger terminal, to be completed by the end of 2018, will have a capacity to handle about 700,000 passengers a year, as turboprop flights relocate to the new airport, freeing up capacity for more jet aircraft operations at Changi Airport.

Takenaka Corp has bagged the S$50 million contract to build the new terminal. The Japanese firm has been involved in various construction and upgrading works at Changi Airport, including the on-going development of Terminal 4, as well as the upgrading of Terminals 1 and 2 in the past.

The plans were unveiled on Thursday (Oct 20) at the groundbreaking event for Seletar Airport’s new terminal building, attended by Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Minister for Transport. The new two-storey terminal, with a gross floor area of 9,500 sq m, of which about 500 sq m will be dedicated to serving business passengers, is sited at the eastern side of Seletar Airport.

Mr See Seng Wan, General Manager of Seletar Airport, said: “We have made good progress with the redevelopment of Seletar Airport in recent years… We have chosen a greenfield location at the east for several key reasons.”

While a better airfield layout will enable the runway to accommodate more flight movements, the new terminal will be much nearer to the control tower and fire station, allowing faster response for the ground operations teams. The Seletar Airport community will also benefit from minimal disruption to current operations during the construction works, Mr See added.

Redevelopment of Seletar commenced in 2008 and since then, the airport has seen several enhancements, including the lengthening of its runway, the construction of a new control tower and fire station, a doubling of the number of parking stands, additional taxiways and upgraded aircraft parking aprons.

“The expansion of Seletar Airport will accommodate the growth of our air traffic and optimise operational resources. The new passenger terminal building will also complement operations at Changi Airport and allow for more capacity,” said Mr Daniel Ng, Director (Aviation Industry), Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.

To handle scheduled commercial flights, the departure area will have four check-in counters, four immigration counters, two security screening stations and a gate holdroom which can seat close to 200 passengers. There will be three aircraft parking stands adjacent to the terminal, supplemented by another 60 at the rest of the airport.