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Travellers using Changi Airport to pay higher fees from July

The transit area of Changi Airport’s Terminal 2. (PHOTO: Reuters)
The transit area of Changi Airport’s Terminal 2. (PHOTO: Reuters)

From July, travellers departing from Singapore Changi Airport will have to pay an additional $13.30 for their trips, with the funds going towards airport infrastructure development – including the building of Terminal 5.

The sum comprises a new Airport Development Levy (ADL) of $10.80 and a $2.50 increase in the existing Passenger Service and Security Fee (PSSF) for departing travellers, said the Ministry of Transport (MOT), Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and Changi Airport Group (CAG) on Wednesday (28 February).

For travellers transferring or transiting through Singapore, an ADL of $3 will be imposed for each time they pass through Changi Airport. The PSSF for this category of travellers will remain at $6. For departing travellers, the PSSF will be raised to $30.40 from $27.90 come July.

From 2019 to 2024, the PSSF for both categories of travellers will be raised by $2.50 each April, after which they will be subject to review.

The scheduled changes from July mean that departing passengers will pay a total of $47.30, while transfer or transit passengers will pay $9.

Additionally, landing, parking and aerobridge (LPA) fees for all flights at Changi Airport will also be increased by 1 per cent from July. The LPA fees will also be increased by 1 per cent each April until 2024.

Legislative changes will be made to implement the ADL, which will apply to tickets issued on or after 1 July.

Need to expand

The added fees will help fund part of the Changi East development, which includes the building of a three-runway system; a network of tunnels and systems for transferring passengers, baggage and airside vehicles; and the construction of Terminal 5, which will allow Changi Airport to serve up to 50 million more passengers per annum.

This revenue will also be used to upgrade and refurbish existing terminal infrastructure, which aims to alleviate peak-hour congestion and improve the airport experience for travellers.

Funding for the Changi East development comes from three parties: the government, CAG and the airports users, which include airlines and passengers. As the project’s main backer, the government has thus far committed $9 billion while CAG has forked out $3.6 billion.

Citing the annual 5.4 per cent growth in air traffic over the past decade, MOT and CAAS said that Changi Airport is “fast reaching the limits of its capacity”. With 62.2 million passengers having passed through the airport last year, CAG similarly noted that “without further expansion, service standards may drop, with passengers experiencing delays”.