Terminal Three delayed by a year

By GERALDINE YEO

CHANGI Airport's Terminal Three will be delayed by a year because of slower passenger traffic.

It will be ready only in 2006, said Communications Minister Mah Bow Tan yesterday. But Singapore could see 1 to 2 per cent growth in traffic this year, if the slight pick-up in the last quarter of 1998 continued.

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony for the Changi Airport MRT Line, he said that air passenger traffic went up by 2.7 per cent in the last quarter of 1998 over the same period in 1997, mostly from the United States and Europe.

But overall, the airport saw its first decline in passenger traffic in a decade.

It handled 23.8 million passengers last year, a figure that is 5.4 per cent lower than in 1997.

Mr Mah said that when the third terminal was planned for two years ago, there was an urgent need to increase capacity.

However, that was based on old projections.

He said: "We will continue with our philosophy of building capacity ahead of demand.

"But since the demand has fallen off, the urgency to build is no longer there."

The one-year delay would provide "some breathing space" to review the plans and costing, and come up with a better and more cost-efficient Terminal Three, he said.

In the meantime, Terminals One and Two would be upgraded to handle between 40 million and 45 million passengers -- about 10 million more than previously.

Despite the delay in building Terminal Three, the Changi Airport MRT Line remained viable, Mr Mah said.

"We're building the MRT line to serve the current airport.

"Even at 44 million capacity... that is more than sufficient justification for us to build the line," he added.

It would also serve the $150-million Singapore Expo exhibition and convention centre, which opens in March and is expected to generate up to 17,000 riders per hour during major events.

The $850-million, 6-km MRT line, which extends from Tanah Merah station, is expected to be completed at the end of 2001.

Because of construction work, the taxi stand at Terminal Two, near Terminal One, will be closed from today. But the number of taxi berths at the terminal's other stand has been doubled to 12.

In addition, a section of the mezzanine floor of the multi-storey carpark will have to be closed.