First flight lands at Changi's refurbished Terminal 2

A Singapore Airlines flight from Munich that touched down yesterday morning was the first to arrive at the refurbished Changi Airport Terminal 2.

Passengers on Flight SQ327, which landed at 7.12am, welcomed the spacious layout of the renovated terminal and swift automated immigration clearance.

The terminal was closed in May 2020 for renovations and reopened partially to passengers yesterday.

First to exit the glass doors separating the immigration hall from the public area of the arrival hall was Mr Kaushik Mohan, who was returning after a five-day work trip in the German city.

On the speedy immigration clearance, the 38-year-old private equity investor said: "I didn't need to wait for anything."

There are a total of 34 automated immigration lanes, said operator Changi Airport Group (CAG).

They serve Singaporeans and residents who have enrolled their iris and facial biometrics with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), as well as eligible foreign visitors.

Another 12 lanes are manned by ICA officers.

Of the 34 automated lanes, six are special assistance lanes that are wider to cater to passengers with mobility aids and big families.

However, only 16 automated lanes, three special assistance lanes and six manned counters will be in use for now, CAG said.

Before the renovation, there were only eight automated lanes and 16 counters in the same hall.

Yesterday marked the first phase of the reopening of T2, with arrival immigration, baggage claim belts and contact gates at the southern wing of the terminal ready for flight operations.

The rest of the arrival immigration hall, as well as the departure hall, is still undergoing renovation. The expansion works are slated to be fully completed by 2024.

The terminal will cater to peak-hour arrival flights of airlines operating in Terminal 3 (T3).

A small number of T3 departure flights may use the boarding gates at T2, although passengers on these flights will continue to check in and clear departure immigration at T3.

As travel restrictions ease globally, air travel has picked up, with passenger traffic through Changi Airport now averaging above 40 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

Mr Mohan said that the passengers were offered tea and biscuits by airport staff welcoming them, making for a "very festive" atmosphere.

Another passenger, Mr Tay Swee Kiat, praised the lighting and layout, as well as the efficiency of immigration clearance.

The engineer in his 50s had flown from Texas in the United States - with a layover in Munich - to visit his family in Singapore with his 17-year-old daughter.

But Mr Tay lamented the lack of duty-free shopping at the arrival immigration hall.

He said: "Usually we'd get some duty-free items but today, (the store) is closed."

The duty-free store in the arrival immigration hall was still under renovation yesterday, though staff were seen wheeling in crates of goods to stock makeshift kiosks selling duty-free goods.

Some said the facilities in the terminal could be improved.

Counsellor Oileen Lee, 56, said: "I don't think it (the old T2 design) was like that. This feels so sparse in comparison."

She was at the terminal with her husband to welcome her eldest son who was returning from a study programme in Barcelona, Spain.

With only part of the arrival hall open, she added: "There's nothing to drink and eat here. We were hoping to have coffee."