More shops in Changi's transit areas reopen as travellers return

Travellers arriving in and departing from Changi Airport will get a shopping experience closer to that before the Covid-19 pandemic as more stores reopen.

For example, arriving vaccinated travel lane (VTL) passengers can now shop at the Lotte duty-free store in the Terminal 3 (T3) arrival north area as the store has reopened after an extended closure.

The Terminal 1 (T1) arrival west area's duty-free store will reopen at the end of this month. About 60 per cent of shops in the transit area of T1 and T3 are now open, and works are under way for other tenants to gradually reopen their shops.

Changi Airport Group (CAG) spokesman Dennis Yim told The Straits Times that these moves will help to rekindle the pre-pandemic shopping experience for travellers.

He said sales from travellers - excluding Singapore residents - at the terminal buildings have grown by three times since the launch of the first quarantine-free VTL in September last year.

T1 and T3 are currently operational, while T2 and T4 remain closed owing to the low number of travellers amid the pandemic.

Mr Yim said the number of people entering the public areas of T1 and T3 has increased by more than 50 per cent since the two terminals reopened to the public in September last year.

Nearly nine in 10 of the shops are open now, he added. This is slightly up from about eight in 10 in September. Sales by businesses in these areas have in turn risen by 40 per cent, thanks to the VTLs' impact, Changi's shopping campaigns and the opening of new businesses there, he said.

Ms Pamela Loo-Song, director of retail and local sales at Focus Network Agencies, which runs chocolate retailer The Cocoa Trees, said sales at the firm's airport outlets have grown in proportion with rising passenger traffic since November last year.

She said the firm hopes business will recover this year to at least 50 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. It is hiring more staff for its shops in preparation for the recovery.

Meanwhile, at Jewel Changi Airport, locals continue to make up the bulk of the visitors.

Jewel Changi Airport Development chief executive James Fong said the facility has seen a more than 10 per cent increase in local footfall from January to this month from the same period last year.

He said Singapore's plans to reopen further, along with similar plans by other countries in the region, will increase the number of foreign visitors to Jewel.

He added that Jewel has been upgrading its offerings as it prepares to welcome more travellers. For example, it will tap augmented reality technology to create a dinosaur-themed play experience in the mall soon.

But confectionery retailer Candy Empire said the VTLs have not improved earnings at its Jewel outlet.

Its general manager, Mr Abdul Mohamed, said only a broad reopening without any restrictions, similar to that of Britain, would significantly improve business.

A spokesman for Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, which has an outlet in Jewel and another in the T1 transit area, said the increased passenger traffic has mildly improved sales at the T1 outlet. At its Jewel outlet, revenue growth was mainly fuelled by the traditional festive spending of the local community.

Local consumers are also driving sales outside of the airport. "Even with the introduction of VTLs, tourist traffic is still rarely in sight at our downtown outlets," she said.