29th Jan 2008
Melissa Chua
Terminal 3 of Singapore’s Changi Airport (picture) began operations this week with a host of people-friendly technologies. The new 380,000 sqm terminal features a new baggage handling facility, automated people mover system and Wireless@SG Internet access.
A high-speed transport system for baggage between all three terminals was built by a consortium headed by Crisplant a/s, a Danish subsidiary of FKI Logistex. The contract, worth £49.3 million (US$96.4 million), also requires that Crisplant supply the computer control system for the facility.
Luggage between terminals will be transferred through underground tunnels at 7m a second. At that speed, it will take about just three minutes for a bag to be transported between Terminal 2 and 3.
The Automated People Mover System, which cost S$135 million (US$94 million) to build, comprises 10 train services, linking all three airport terminals through 6.5 km of elevated train tracks. There are seven train stations: Two stations each in Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, and three stations in Terminal 3.
The new trains are equipped with LCD screens that provide flight information to passengers. In addition, passengers can view the arrival time of the next train on plasma TV displays at the stations.
The Wireless@SG service, a free island-wide wireless broadband initiative developed by the Infocomm Development Aurhority of Singapore, is also available at Terminal 3. Internet service providers Starhub and Qmax communications won the tender last year to deploy the service.
Terminal 3, which cost S$1.75 billion (US$2.5 billion) to build, has a capacity of 22 million passengers a year, bringing the Singapore international airport’s total yearly capacity to some 70 million passengers. It adds 28 aerobridge gates to the airport, with eight of these designed to handle the Airbus 380, the world’s largest passenger aircraft to date. http://computerworld.com.sg/ShowPage.aspx?pagetype=2&articleid=7339&pubid=3&tab=Home&issueid=124
