Changi Airport Terminal 4 (T4) : A new travel experience

Terminal 4, which will open soon, is a combination of the best in Terminal 1, 2 and 3 and new things, stated Dennis Yim, Director Corporate and Marketing Communication of Changi Airport Group to Le Défi Media Group during a media tour. He added that Terminal 4 (T4) is the testing ground for Terminal 5 which is under construction.

Dennis Yim underlined that T4, which has cost S$985 million (Rs 25 billion), constitutes a new travel experience being the first terminal at Changi Airport to offer end-to-end Fast and Seamless Travel (FAST) for departing passengers. “Passengers will not have to wait for counters to open for check-in. They can check-in at their own convenience at any automated kiosk,” he explained. In fact, T4’s Departure Hall houses seven check-in rows. Of these, four are designated for FAST, featuring a total of 65 automated check-in kiosks and 50 automated bag drop machines. For passengers who may not be familiar with FAST, roving passenger service agents will be on hand to assist. Counter service will also be available especially for those who need special assistance such as families with young children and large travel groups.  T4 offers a fully automated departure process. It will be the first terminal at Changi Airport to integrate facial recognition technology with end-to-end self-service options. Self-service options are available at each stage of departure – check-in, bag drop, immigration and boarding. With the extensive use of technology, including facial recognition software, FAST at T4 redefines the passenger’s travel experience, enhances operational efficiency and raises productivity.

The passenger’s FAST journey in T4 entails the following:

1. Automated Check-In Kiosks

Depending on the airline, passengers enter their booking reference or scan their passport to retrieve the flight booking, select seat (where available), print boarding pass and bag tag(s). They then tag their luggage to be checked in.

2. Automated Bag Drop

Passengers scan their boarding pass and passport. A photo of the passenger is captured and matched against the photo in the passport before the luggage is accepted and inducted into the baggage handling system.

3. Automated Immigration Gate 

This is an enhanced version of the automated immigration lanes currently being used at existing terminals. The AIGs at T4 use a dual facial and thumbprint biometric recognition system. The passenger’s photo is captured and matched against the one in the passport.

4. Automated Boarding Gate

At the boarding gate, passengers only need to scan their boarding pass and authenticate their identity by taking a photo. The facial recognition system matches this photo against the photo taken earlier at the AIG.

Terminal Building

• Built on the Southern end of Changi Airport, T4 is a two-storey, 25 metre-high building with a gross floor area of 225,000 square metres (about 27 football pitches), including the car parks, coach stands and taxi deck.
• T4’s design draws inspiration from the orchid petal. The symmetrical petal motif is applied ubiquitously in many locations within T4, such as on the skylights, marble flooring, carpets, air-con binnacles and even the dustbins and holders for fire extinguishers.
• The terminal’s showpiece is a 300m long x 18m wide x 23m high Central Galleria which separates the public and transit areas. A first for Changi Airport, T4’s visual-transparent concept provides clear visibility from the check-in hall, across the transit area, right up to the boarding gates at some locations.
• T4 has a handling capacity of 16 million passengers per annum, bringing the total handling capacity of Changi Airport to 82 million.
• Nine airlines will operate at T4: the Air Asia Group (four airlines), Cathay Pacific, Cebu Pacific, Korean Air, Spring Airlines and Vietnam Airlines. These airlines collectively operate close to 800 flights a week to over 20 regional destinations, and serve an estimated eight million passengers per annum.