Fuelling growth
This will be a year of new terminals and old ones made new. Marek Kolasinski takes a closer look at Changi, whose Terminal 1 is set to receive its very own facelift over the next few years
Deciding to refresh the look of a terminal is not easy, particularly when one knows how disruptive these works can be. And yet it is one that the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has recently taken for Changi’s Terminal 1 by putting out a tender and ultimately awarding the refurbishing works to the Takenaka Corporation.
Takenaka is no stranger to Changi airport having originally built the terminal in 1981, having worked on its previous face lift in 1998-2000 and having also completed the upgrade of Terminal 2 in 2006 (begun in 2003). This intimate knowledge of the infrastructure of the old terminal will certainly come in handy in planning for works which the CAAS wants to have minimum impact on the day-to-day operations at the airport.
“We have all the relevant drawings of Terminal 1, which are very useful, particularly in the dismantling work involved,” a representative of the Takenaka Corporation tells Frontier. “With a greater understanding of the nature of the existing structure will allow us to carry out fruitful site investigations and propose the best dismantling method with the right temporary supports.”
Also, the experience accumulated during the prior refurbishing works will enable Takenaka to effectively plan all the elements needed to conduct the work in the most efficient manner, which will be essential seeing as it has been divided into over 100 different phases, destined to maintain disruption to a minimum.
“The challenge is to carry out upgrading works with minimal inconveniences to our airlines, passengers, airport visitors and other airport businesses,” a representative for CAAS tells Frontier. “What we are doing is carry out the upgrading works in multiple phases so that airport businesses will not be disrupted.”
This will include constant monitoring of noise levels and clear signage around hoarded areas to indicate to travellers where they need to go and what is happening. Also, the Takenaka Corporation will conduct most noisy works during off-peak hours and in the night. “With over 100 phases involved and numerous site constraints, we require a high number of experienced site supervisors to achieve excellent quality standards. To overcome this, we divide our site organisation into landside, transit and airside construction departments, which are filled with site personnel of different levels.”
This project, as all other CAAS projects, will be funded entirely out of the company’s own reserves, which include a mix of aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenues, the latter having come to represent a growing share of the airport’s total revenues over the years. “When Changi airport started operations in 1981, our non-aeronautical revenue was about 40% of our total revenue,” explains the CAAS representative. “In recent years, this has grown to about 60% (see table).
The key objective of commercial management at CAAS is to maximise returns from the commercial facilities, such as concessions and commercial space. We aim to grow non-aeronautical revenue and reduce reliance on aeronautical revenue where possible to help keep costs to airlines low. With our airline partners facing increasing cost pressure, airports have to work to grow their non-aeronautical revenue to fuel future business growth.”
|
Financial year |
Total income (Singapore $) |
Aeronautical revenue |
Non-aeronautical revenue |
|
2005/2006 |
1bn |
879m |
600m |
|
2004/2005 |
970m |
411m |
559m |
|
2003/2004 |
779m |
298m |
481m |
|
2002/2003 |
928m |
393m |
535m |
|
2001/2002 |
879m |
351m |
527m |
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